Desperate
by Ally823
Summary: Sam and Daniel are trapped on a planet where the population is decreasing and the Goa'uldie in charge doesn't seem too keen on his slaves dying out. SamDaniel of course. COMPLETE!
1. Desperate

**Title: **_Desperate_

**Summary: **_Sam and Daniel are trapped on a planet with a race of people whose civilization is dying out and the Goa'uld in charge is desperate to prevent it. Will be S/D later._

**Rating: **_T for later chapters_

**Spoilers: **_Seasons 2-5 are fair game_

**This is my first SG-1 multi chapter fic. I'm not the best with those so please be nice!**

**I don't own anyone or anything except the villagers and Captains Roland and Kelly.**

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Sam stood near one of the villages rickety old houses, watching SG-1's former archaeologist speak avidly with one of the villagers. The language was a dialect of Spanish, like it had been in all of the other villages on the planet they'd visited, so it had been easy for both Daniel and Sam to pick it up.

Ever dince the Goa'uld, Camaxtli, captured SG-1 and sent the scientific half to one of his many planets, they had been trying to find a Stargate to return and get back up to recue Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c.

According to Daniel, these people on the planet had a mixed culture. Everyone they encountered had blonde hair and blue eyes like the people of northern Europe. They worshiped Aztec gods, Camaxtli in particular, and spoke a dialect of castillan Spanish. Their huts and villages resembled that of a village in Ghana.

The worst part was, the villages were so far apart that she and Daniel had to really "book it" to get to all of the ones they had come to so far.

The man to whom Daniel had been speaking with stood up and walked by Sam, not even acknowledging her presence. _'The Shavadi all over again,'_ she thought bitterly before walking up to Daniel, whose bent head said the news that they had been dreading, but come to expect.

"No gate, Colonel O'Neill or Teal'c, huh?" she asked.

"Sam, what are we going to do?" he asked despairingly, lifting his head up wearily. "This is the twenty-eight village we visited in the past three months! We were on Camaxtli's ship here for at least a week and captured on his other planet for at least another. The SGC must think we're dead by now."

"We have to keep looking," protested Sam.

"I never said I intended to," Daniel shot back. "On a different note, is it possible that Camaxtli removed the Stargate?"

"Well, according to what we know about the Goa'uld, it's possible but not likely," answered Sam. "I assume that Camaxtli would want a Stargate on this planet to 'pay their respects to their god.' Or possibly even to take people through it for new hosts. Then again," she said, sitting down next to Daniel, "they could just as easily do that by ship."

"I don't see why he would want to go to the effort to fly here when he might have a gate at his desposal," Daniel pointed out, ever opptimistically. Sam leaned into him, showing a rarer vulnerale sit, and Daniel put his arm around her.

"Are we ever going to see them again?" Sam asked quietly. She knew it sounded silly, but she wanted the reassurance.

"I'm sure we will. One way or another. We'll think of something," he said wearily. "We always do."

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Three Months Ago:

"Unscheduled off-world activation!" rang throughout the halls of the SGC as the klaxons began going off.

General George Hammond descended the stairs into the control room. "Sergeant?"

Harriman answered the General's unfinished question. "Receiving IDC. It's SG-1. sir."

"Open the iris," ordered Hammond.

The iris opened and Colonel Jack O'Neill and Teal'c stumbled onto the ramp.

"Close the iris!" Jack shouted.

Hammond nodded to Harriman who quickly complied. Hammond then proceded into the embarkation room.

"Colonel, what the hell happened? You're three _days_ overdue," berated Hammond, though not unkindly.

A loud thud on the iris before that wormhole finally shut down distracted them for a moment.

"Where are Major Carter and Doctor Jackson?" he continued.

"We--we don't know," choked Jack.

All right, you can tell me during the briefing," said Hammond, understanding that now would not be the best time for explanations.

A half an hour later, Jack, Teal'c, and Hammond began the briefing.

"We went to the planet and it wasn't even ten steps away from the gate that we were surrounded and out numbered by Jaffa," began Jack. "They took us to one of those pyramid ships and threw us in a holding cell. Teal'c thought it might have been a kind of summit for the lesser System Lords."

"Are you sure?" interrupted Hammond.

"Indeed," replied Teal'c. "On our way to the holding cell I noticed large quantities of Jaffa warriors each belonging to different sects. Though it is possible that the Goa'uld system lord, to whom the ship belonged, may have gathered many Jaffa followers from his enemies."

"I see. Continue Colonel."

"Well, sir, then the ship took off. We figured the summit thing lasted for about a day, or at least, what was left lasted for a day. Anyway, after Carter calculated that a day went by, a couple of guards came and took Carter and Daniel away. We didn't see them after that," said Jack, pausing before continuing. "Some time later, the same guys came and got us. We were interrogated, the bad guy introduced himself, it was something like camelti."

"Camaxtli," interrupted Teal'c.

"Yeah, that's right," said Jack, "then Camel told us that Carter and Daniel were gone and it was too late to save them. Then he sent us back with the same two guards and we managed to kick the crap out of them then get away from there."

"I see," said Hammond again. "Teal'c have you heard of...Camaxtli before?"

"I have not," replied Teal'c.

"Alright, dismissed," said Hammond after a pause, then, "Colonel."

Jack paused. "Yes, sir?"

"Don't beat yourself up over this. You did what you had to do."

"Yes sir, but I don't believe that that was all I could have done. I figured that when we got to the gate, we could go back with reinforcements," said Jack.

"Colonel," said Hammond regretfully. "You know I can't do that. The president won't authorize me to go after two people and risk many more in the process."

"Yes, sir," replied Jack again. He'd let this go for now, but come tomorrow, he would use all of his power of persistence to get his kids home again.

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Three months later-Earth:

Jack was waiting impatiently outside General Hammond's office. Ever since Carter and Daniel were labeled KIA two months ago, he had become a shadow of his formal self. The "kids" where the ones here at the SGC who kept him young and pulling his greying hair out. Without them, the hall were quieter and the coffee suppy somewhat more stocked.

He was also still reeling from the za'tarc incident a couple of days ago. Martouf had ended up being the za'tarc and it tore him up to have to be the one to kill one of the few reminders of one of his kids.

It had almost been worse to break the news to Jacob. Hammond had dialed the Tok'ra and asked if Jacob could come back to Earth for some news. Naturally, Jacob was suspicious that no one came to tell him anything and he had to go back to hear it. Not that he was complaining much. Jack could see Jacob getting angry (basically reacting how Jack had reacted the day after the briefing) but when Hammond informed his old friend about Carter, Jacob just sat there.

He knocked on Hammond's door, as usual, prepared for the briefing to one of the knew planets found on one of the planets on the Abydos cartouche.

"Come," called Hammond.

"Hey, sir," Jack greeted and took his seat.

"Nice of you to join us," returned Hammond. "Captain, the readings please," he said to SG-1's knew astrophysics expert.

Captain Terry Roland happily obliged. "Well sirs, simply put, the planet is almost Earth-like atmoshere-wise. There were no signs of life near the gate so it looks like it sound be an in-and-out mission," she reported.

_'Great,'_ thught Jack. _'I can't wait.'_

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**I know I left off on a cliff hanger but I'm having trouble with the next part. I know where the story's going, it's just getting it down. R&R BTW, if anyone has any good ideas, I can probably use anything I get.**


	2. Home Away from Home

**Spoilers: Forever in a Day (blink and you'll miss it), tiny ones for Tenth Commandment and Singularity,**

**I should have added that this story takes place just before _Forever in a Day_, do Daniel doesn't know that Sha're is dead yet.**

**I apologize for spelling errors, especially in the last chap. I was rereading to get started on this one and was kicking myself for my spelling mistakes. I promise I'll try harder this time to find and fix my spelling. Don't blame it entirely on me, I don't have Microsoft Word and am greatly suffering.**

**Please, review. I'm a person who likes to see people's opinions of my work, whether opinions are good or bad.**

**Also, I raised the rating for suggestive themes and mild language.**

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Nine Months Later:

Sam cleared her throat loudly. The people of the village Sam and Daniel finally settled down with a few weeks ago were just as sexist as the Shavadi, if not worse. No matter where they had gone on this half of the planet, the people had never heard of nor seen the gate, and to Sam's ultimate annoyance, never gave her more than a millisecond's worth of a glance. She was presently trying to work her way through the crowd of people to meet Daniel in the front. The man in front of her spared her a quick look before turning back to whatever everyone else was looking at.

Every month, the people of the Calaxam village would hold a festival of some sort. Both Sam and Daniel were still trying to figure out what the festivities would be.

Every month, they also had to worry about the fact that Sam might be "given" to any male of the village. It didn't help that Sam was very attractive by both Calaxam standards and Earth standards. Sam was considering asking Daniel to be her "husband" just to stop anyone from taking her as theirs, but she decided that that was too unfair to Daniel.

They would have moved to a different village by now, except this was actually the most decent and fair they had found.

Daniel seemed to be adjusting fine, but then, he was raised in this kind of environment; he hadn't said much about his childhood, especially not since the gamekeeper, but Sam learned that the Amazonian-like planet was one place that was similar to an Earth place Daniel lived in before Egypt and later again the U.S. It was Sam that was having the worst time adjusting. She wasn't used to being treated like yesterday's trash and at first, wanted to kick the crap out of every man who showed her disrespect. It also didn't help that she was supposed to be submissive to every man's every whim unless she was married. One of the laws was that any man could order and single woman around like she was his. When Sam heard about that, she was so pissed off that Daniel had to take her into the forest to cool off.

Since then, she had tried to curb her temper but it wasn't easy.

"Excuse me," she said, her tone borderlining on rude. By this time she care because these people's sexist attitude was rubing her last nerve the wrong way.

The man turned to her and grabbed her shoulders. He shook her roughly. "You _dare_ speak to me, mujer? By now I would have thought that even a foreign woman would have gotten our laws through her thick skull."

Sam knew he was goading her and it was working, but she rufused to be the first to strike if it came to that. If she struck first, she would be beaten for disrespecting a man. She didn't like all of the laws but that didn't mean she was _stupid._ _'Then again,'_ she thought, as he raised his hand to slap her, _'maybe he isn't trying to goad me.'_

She caught his arm easily as it swung down. A couple of women gasped when she did this. _'Probably because I dared to touch him to stop him from properly punishing me,'_ thought Sam angrily.

"You arrogant b--" began the man furiously.

"Sam!"

_'Thank God,'_ thought Sam. Daniel had made his way through the crowd in time to stop the situation from escalating.

Daniel put his arm around her and steered her away from the crowd. "It's just a wedding ceremony," he murmured into her ear.

"Oh," said Sam. She really didn't want to attend now. She didn't know what else she was going to do, because she was _not_ going to back to her place in one of the two huts designed for the single women. It was times like this that she envyed Daniel. He had his own hut. This only made the temptation to ask for him to marry her even greater, but she reminded herself that it wasn't fair and that he didn't have similar feelings.

Sam just dismissed these feelings as lust because she hadn't been in bed with a guy since she was engaged to Jonas. He would have fit in with this society.

Her mind went back to the argument with the man, Kaluck, if she remembered correctly. She smirked. If he really thought she was a bitch, then she couldn't be too insulted. Most female dogs were nice anyway.

Daniel noticed her seemingly arupt change in attitude. "What?" he asked playfully.

"I was just thinking that since most female dogs are _actually_ nice, then Kaluck calling me a 'bitch' was actually more of a complement in some ways," replied Sam, catching Daniel's playful mood.

He snorted in response. "He's just an arrogant bastard that, like all the other men in the village, doesn't know how to treat a woman with respect," he said. Suddenly, he had an idea. He knew Sam was ticklish and his hand was on her shoulder, near a particularly sensitive spot. He let his hand slide down her shoulder slightly then attacked.

Sam gave a startled sqeak and began laughing as she turned toward him to ward him off. "Stop! Daniel, stop!" she gasped. Then she managed to turn and began to tickle him back. "Hey!" he said as indignantly as one could whilst laughing. "That's not fair!"

"Oh, and you _were_ being fair," retorted Sam.

The "battle" had wandered back toward the outskirts of Calax, where the living huts were (the trading huts were located towards the center). This also meant that debris would be left in the paths nearest to the huts.

Sam and Daniel were so distracted that they didn't notice that Daniel was backing toward a garden rake. One foot made it over but the second one hit it. The unexpected impact knocked Daniel off-balance. Instinctively, Daniel grabbed for something nearby to stablize himself. Unfortunately, that something was Sam, and she, too, was pulled down with him.

He landed on his back and she landed on top of him. It took them both a moment to realize their faces were centimeters away from each other.

When Sam became aware of her position, she flushed brilliantly.

"Uh," she managed to say. _'Uh? What the hell was _that?

"S-sorry," said Daniel, still winded.

"It's okay," said Sam. _'At least that's better than "uh".'_

"Uh, S-Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"C-can you get up-up now?"

"Oh, right," said Sam, now blushing furiously. She wouldn't have been nearly as embarrassed if her clothes hadn't been so revealng. She quickly got up and offered Daniel her hand.

Another rule that Sam was angry with was all single women had to wear skimpy skirts and very revealing tops to make themselves "more attractive". As soon as the wedding was over, the new wife would wear modest clothing to prevent her from being "claimed" by another guy.

On second thought, Sam's hut was beginning to look like a good place to go. At least the people who thought up the laws were considerate enough to make it so that no men were allowed in the single women's huts.

She quickly walked back to her hut and sat down on her mat.

_'Okay,'_ she thought, _'That should not have made me feel like _that.'

Her emotions that she had been feeling made her reconsider her earlier thoughts about just feeling lust. The first year that she had known Daniel, she had to admit she had a crush on Daniel. It scared her; she had never felt this way, not even with Jonas. By then though, they'd lost hope of finding Sha're unchanged by her experience as Ammonet. After Jonas and his over0protectiveness and abuse, Sam had lost her confidence in choosing men. She knew that Daniel was a really nice guy, but the revelation about Sha're actually gabe Sam a chance with him. It was then that she set her sights on Jack. They couldn't be together because of regs and and someone asked her out, she was technically taken. He was just a safe bet. But she had never seen Daniel that way, had she?

She slammed her fist on the soft blanket. Why did she have to be so disconnected with her feelings, especially now when she was probably considered MIA, if not KIA and no longer had to worry about emotional attachment like with Cassie? Truthfully, she had never stopped crushing on Daniel, and just found a way to avoid confronting it; as a result, she didn't have to admit she liked him more than she should be allowed.

_'Great, I'm in love with my best friend,'_ she thought despairingly.

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Daniel just stood rooted in place after Sam took off, appearing not to hear him calling her back. Part of him wanted to go and stop her, to kiss her and tell her she shouldn't be embarrassed. The other part was to afraid she would smack him _hard_ for following through, screw the planet's laws.

He was too afraid to admit to himself that he liked the situation way more than he should have. It was horrible to have thoughts like _that_ about his best friend _and_ it was betraying Sha're.

His other side pointed out that seeing home, let alone Sha're, again were very slim. The problem was he didn't want Sam to know for fear of jepordizing their friendship.

Daniel finally decided that the smart thing to do was return to his hut instead of looking like a lost idiot.

He grabbed something Sam had cooked up (more or less a choco-walnut cookie) and began rethinking something Camaxtli had said that had bothered him. Mostly because it was a god of war that suggested it. It was nothing big, but enough to catch his attention.

-Flashback-

_"So, Daniel. You got any idea which Goa-uldie those Jaffa worship?" asked Jack._

_"No, Jack, I don't," replied Daniel for what seemed like the hundredth time._

_Jack tried a different victim. "Carter, any way you can find that we can get out?"_

_"No, sir," replied in her you're-annoying-me-sir-but-I-can't-say-anything-because-you're-my-superior-officer tone, but even his unending boredom had gotten to her so her words had a sharper edge than she intended._

_"Hey, don't get snappy, now," said Jack. "I just want out of this hellhole."_

_"We know, Jack," replied Daniel calmly. "We all want out."_

_'Oh great,' thought Daniel as they heard the metalic sound of approaching Jaffa warriiors._

_"What?!" whined Jack. "I wasn't expecting them for at least another fifteen minutes!" He checked his wrist for the non-existant watch and tapped it. "Must be getting slow," he muttered._

_The cell door opened and three armed Jaffa entered._

_"You two," he said, pointing to Daniel and Sam. Daniel noticed that he spoke in a Goa'uldishly bastardized Spanish dialect. He knew that Sam probably understood since she knew some French and Spanish, but the other two might have some trouble._

_"Uh, no, I think not," said Jack, correctly interpreting the gesture._

_"We'll be fine," Daniel reassured Jack._

_Jack pursed his lips but said nothing, which for him was highly unusual._

_Daniel and Sam were escorted non-too-gently to where he supposed the "god" was located._

_As predicted, they entered an elaborate room moments later and were forced to "kneel before their god"._

_"Welcome doctors of SG-1," their host greeted in perfect English. Daniel wanted to snort in amusement but judged it unwise and remained silent. The Goa'uld continued, "My name is Camaxtli, and I suppose you are woundering why I had you brought before me."_

_"Not really," said Daniel in an excellent Jack impression._

_Camaxtli's eyes glowed and his first prime kicked Daniel in the side. Daniel hissed in pain. "Insolent goddless cur! I have heard rumors of your team's accomplishments and defiance to your true gods. I have loyal sources on most System Lords' planets, much as your Tok'ra." This last part was directed at Sam. Whatever his intent had been, Sam seemed unphased, except perhaps gazed more intently seeing as this particular Goa'uld was a bit more eager than most to share intel._

_Camaxtli was silent for a moment before continuing. "I have the brilliant half of SG-1." Both Daniel and Sam ignored the veiled insult to their friends. "If my idea goes as planned, SG-1 will be efficiently divided and one of my most lowly populated planets will get two more donars."_

_Not giving them time to ponder his parting phrase, Camaxtli waved to his first prime to take the younger half of the team and within fifteen minutes, they were placed in a holding cell aboard a teltak._

_"What do you think Camaxtli meantby his last statement?" Sam asked quietly._

_"If I had to wager a guess, he wants us to 'mingle' with the locals. Who knows how long they've been on that planet. They might be in danger of inbreeding, which, if the culture is of the same origin as its 'god', then it might be," replied Daniel._

_"So Camaxtli is from Earth...in a manner of speaking?" asked Sam. "I'm assuming so because it sounded like his Jaffa were speaking Spanish...sort of."_

_"Sort of," agreed Daniel, "since Camaxtli was the Aztec god of war and the hunt. As you know, I'm specialize in Egyptology, so I'm not as familiar with the Aztec culture. My parents actually lived in Guatamala for a couple of month so I know more about Mayans than Aztecs."_

_Sam looked as if she was trying to think of a reply, but didn't. Instead, she glanced around the cell. "Looks like there's no way out of this one either," she commented dryly._

_Daniel didn't see anything either. He hoped that there would be a gate near their drop-off point._

_An eternity seemed to stretch by as seconds blended into minutes which blended into hours and into days. They had taken to just sitting around, eating and drinking what was given, and speaking when needed, even if it was only in monosyllables._

_Finally the ship began to descend and eventually land._

_"Yes!" said Sam hoarsely, reminding Daniel of Jack._

_It occured to him that they hadn't talked about how they would escape or convince General Hammond to even come back and look forJack and Teal'c._

_As if reading his mind, Sam said, "We go to the gate, then we'll go back to the SGC and dial back to Camaxtli's home planet."_

_"What about GDOs?" asked Daniel._

_"We can dial an ally first, and then go home from there," Sam promptly replied. Her eyes were alight with determination Daniel hadn't seemed for what seemed like years._

_Daniel's heart lifted._

_Then the sound of heavy footsteps announced the arrival of the Jaffa. Daniel and Sam had long-since given up trying to convince them that Camaxtli was a false god._

_"Come on, get up," ordered the leader._

_The two scientists stiffly obeyed and were led outside, sheilding their eyes. After so long in dim light,the sun was painfully blinding._

_When his eyes adjusted, Daniel's heart dropped to his feet. The ship had (probably intentionally) been landed on a tall hill that overlooked a canopy of dark green forestry as far as the eye could see in all directions. No cleared area that symbolized the gate's location could be seen._

_"There is a village about five miles that way." The Jaffa pointed in the opposite direction from the setting sun. He added with a smirk, "I'd hurry. It'll be dark soon and there's no telling what's roaming here."_

_With that, he and the two other Jaffa that had followed them out and went back into the teltak, leaving Daniel and Sam syairing despairingly at the sea of green._

_"We'd better start moving," said Daniel. "Like he said, we don't know what's out there, so we'd better be safe than sorry."_

_Sam nodded and together they set off down the hill in the direction their former captor had pointed._

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**For anyone who was looking forward to reading about Jack or Earth in this chapter rest assured, most of next chapter will be Earth-based.**


	3. The New Team

**Spoilers in this chapter: Anything between D/C and CotG.**

**I want to thank the people who have taken the time to review, but I like to hear what people think about my stories. It'd be appreciated if more fans of the story took the time to comment...**

**I have a better idea of where the story is going now, but it's just a matter of getting my muse to cooperate and to get it on the computer. And for my future reference, which episode did Sam become a major in? I was trying to figure it out and couldn't so I'm sorry if the references to Sam's rank in here are wrong.**

**This chapter is more Earth centered (which I wouldn't know if more people wanted or not. See, this is one thing I'd like comments on) so I apologise if anyone wanted more Sam/Daniel or a Jack POV chapter. This one's written through the SG-1 newbies' POV.**

**Important little fact: Hopefully this chapter and last chapter are the start of doing every other chapter as Sam/ Daniel POV and the others as Kelly/ Roland POV. And for future reference, no, Roland and Kelly aren't "together" (because I don't write slash) but like Sam and Daniel, are very close friends.**

**I'll be nice and quit rambling so you can get to the third part.**

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"Fall back!" shouted Jack over the constant fire of staff weapons. "Kelly, dial it up! Roland, cover her, T and I'll cover you!"

The two captains quickly complied and as soon as Captain Sue Kelly punched in the IDC code, they were through the gate.

"Close the iris!" cried Roland, ducking down to avoid getting hit by the blasts that followed Jack and Teal'c through the gate.

Jack ducked down as well but a stray staff blast made it through the closing iris and came a little too close to him for his comfort.

"Dammit!" he swore angrily.

In response, several dull _thunks!_ hit the now-closed iris.

"Welcome back, SG-1," said General Hammond from the control room. "Get cleared by Doctor Fraiser and we'll debrief at 1800 hours."

"Yes, sir," answered Jack quietly.

Teal'c raised his eyebrow in concern, which didn't go unnoticed by the two newest members. They were still having trouble with figuring out the former first prime's subtle epressions, but this was one that they did recognize.

According to other people at the SGC, Colonel O'Neill had been happy before Major Carter and Doctor Jackson were killed. Sue and Terry reasoned that made sense; you didn't live and die then come back to life again together as a team and _not_ get close. But they also found this hard to believe. Colonel O'Neill was quiet and obeyed orders without question. Everyone who knew him a year ago always looked at him in concern, and when asked, said that he used to be the snarky, cynical Air Force colonel who had always something to say about everything.

Not many people were willing to talk about the two lost scientists. More than a few people also seemed to dislike the two new teammembers, including a certain colonel.

"Are you going to the caf after debrief?" Terry asked Sue.

"Nah, after the doc clears us and General Hammonds debriefs us, I'm goin' back to my lab to translate an artifat SG-7 brought back from P2X-787," replied Sue.

They passed two airmen who exchanged dark glances at Sue's words. This caused Sue and Terry to exchange and uneasy look. "Was it something I said?" Sue asked sarcastically, but quietly. People seemed to hate it even more when the captains spoke with each other easily instead of others, which was kind of hard, considering "others" didn't want to talk with them. So instead of "others" making Sue and Terry want to talk with them, they were giving the poor captains too many confused signals and making them easiest in each other's company. This pissed "others" off even more.

The walked into the infirmary just as Colonel O'Neill was rushing out. The man always acted like he _hated_ the place, not that Sue liked it much either, but the colonel seemed to hate it on an almost extreme level. They silently sat down on two of the beds, facing each other. Sue opened her mouth to say something when a conversation between Teal'c and Fraiser wafted past the closed curtains around one of the far beds.

"I am worried for Colonel O'Neill," rumbled Teal'c.

"I know, I am too Teal'c," responded Fraiser after a pause.

"You do not understand. He is eating less and less and does not often respond when others talk to him. It is as if he is, as you say, on the brink and I fear that his mentality has become like it was when he first lost his son."

_'Whoa.'_ Sue quickly exchanged and alarmed glance with Terry; they hadn't known that Colonel O'Neill even had a son. They went back to listening to the conversation, more intently than before.

"How so?" Fraiser asked sharply.

"Daniel Jackson once told me not long after I met him that Colonel O'Neill went on the first Abydos mission as a way to commit suicide for guilt over his son's death. If they found any signs of threat then he was to stay behind and make sure that the planet was blown up. It was after Daniel Jackson learned Colonel O'Neill's intent and that Ra had 'improved' the bomb that he made an effort to prevent Colonel O'Neill from detonating it. I fear that Colonel O'Neill will not let anyone close to him like he did Daniel Jackson for fear that that person will soon perish like Charlie O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, and Major Carter."

"Yes, it's true that Jack was suicidal after Charlie died. But what is he doing now that makes you think that he's going down that path again?"

Teal'c was silent before answering. "I was told that Colonel O'Neill was gruff after his son's death. It appears that he demonstrates that character now. His friendships are suffering and no one knows how to confort him anymore. I am very afraid for his mentality and what he may do to himself."

"As a friend you have every right to be. And Teal'c, you should know that you just being near Jack as silent support is the best comfort you can give him now. Okay, I think you're done."

Sue and Terry, in quick and silent agreement, hurried back out of the infirmary as quietly as they could, only to make a louder entrance a few moments later.

Teal'c was now heading for the door and Fraiser was standing next to the now partially open curtains.

"Hey Doc!" greeted Sue enthusiastically, but her words rang hollowly in the room considering the conversation that just occured. "We're ready for a date with those awsome needles of yours."

Something shadowed in Fraiser's expression but she smiled and motioned for Sue and Terry to enter the cubicle.

"How are you two doing today?" asked Fraiser in a false cheery voice.

"Fine," they answered quietly in unison.

Janet noticed the somber expressions of the new recruits. "What's wrong? And if you don't tell me, I'll get the hog needles out."

Terry's eyes widened in mock fear. "You wouldn't."

"I would," said Fraiser seriously. "Now tell me what's wrong.

Sue and Terry exchanged a gulty glance. Sue came clean. "We heard you and Teal'c talking. Is it true about the colonel?"

Fraiser nodded sadly. "About his son? Yeah."

"And not just that," put in Terry. "Was he really suiciadal? 'Cause we had no idea at all. No one tells us anything about the old SG-1."

"Yes he really was. It was in his medical report," said Fraiser, preparing the needles. "What do you want to know about the old SG-1?"

"Were they really as good a team as we heard? Ow." asked Terry. Fraiser had just stuck her with a needle without her paying attention.

"They were the best," smiled Fraiser, a distant look in her eyes. "They were all different. Daniel was the so-called geeky archaeologist. He had the biggest, most compassionate soul. Anyone with a heart was touched by him. Sam was a soldier scientist. At first, Jack was afraid that she would be too much like Daniel and want to run off exploring. But she had more caution. The military had to come first for her so she couldn't be like Daniel and go off searching eagerly for new things to study. Every one used to joke that they ganged up on Jack with their geek talk and that's why he has grey hair. Teal'c was stoic and strong. He's lost some stoicism but because of Jack, Daniel, and Sam, he gained even more strength, that he didn't have serving Apophis. Jack, after he came back from Abydos the first time, everyone could tell that he was different. People began to doubt that he even had a heart before the mission but they were proved wrong because he hadn't met Daniel. Before they-they died, Jack was always sarcastic and it began rubbing off on Daniel and Sam.

"At first, they were a slightly disfunctional team because of their differences and it didn't help that it was Teal'c that chose Sha're, Daniel's wife, to be Apophis's wife's host. Sam and Daniel got along best at first because they both had their science in common."

"Is that why everyone hates Ter and me hangin' out?" asked Sue. Fraiser had already poked her with a needle and was now preping the samples for study. She was now working on checking their vitals.

Fraiser nodded sadly. "Although hate is a strong word. I think they hate the fact that in some respects you are like Sam and Daniel. Your situation probably isn't helped by the fact that you are now the cynic of the team," she directed the last part jokingly at Sue but her gaze still remained serious.

"That still doesn't explain why the entire SGC apart from you and Teal'c seem to hate us personally," protested Sue.

"Your vitals are fine," Fraiser said to Terry before answering Sue. "I think that most people feel like you replaced two irreplacable members of one of the best teams. Teal'c doesn't judge people right away and I'm pretty sure he thought you were worthy of the chance to prove yourselves. He judged you each seperately and fairly and has his own opinion from that."

"And you?" encouraged Terry.

"It's because you remind me of Sam and Daniel that I don't have any reason to be angry. There's two major differences though." Fraiser paused for effect. "You don't run in fear from my needles and you hardly drink any coffee. You guys--gals, sorry, are free to go."

Sue and Terry left the infirmary happier and slightly nore informed than when they entered.

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"Simply put, sir: It was an ambush, a trap," said Sue after the briefing began.

Encouraged by Hammond's expression, Terry told how their informant had tricked them into meeting in a certain place only to have dozens of Jaffa waiting. They had been so still and silent that not even Teal'c had noticed them until the last moment. They had fled back to that gate and dialed.

"You know the rest, sir," concluded Sue after Terry paused for breath.

Hammond nodded. "Colonel, Teal'c, anything to add?"

"No, sir." and "I do not." were the replies.

"Alright, dismissed," said Hammond. He rose from his chair and headed in the direction of his office before pausing. "Oh, and SG-1." He waited before he had the entire team's full attention before continuing. "Tomorrow we're expection a visit from the Tok'ra. Something about and experiment that one of the scientists wishes to perform."

In the hall Terry and Sue paused. "I changed my mind," said Terry. "Mind if I go with you to your office and watch while you translate?"

"No, not at all."

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**So what did y'all think? I know this was a shorter chapter but I have a major headache at the moment and want to get this in. If anyone sees anything that needs correcting please say something so I can fix it in later chapters.**


	4. The Joining

**I'll let you know approximately what episode the chapters take place in. This chapter takes place just after 'Double Jeopardy', as will the next chapter (the one with the new SG-1). There usually won't be a time difference between the chapter with Sam and Daniel, and the following chapter with the new SG-1, so I'll let you know if there is a difference.**

**Hats off to everyone who's reviewed so far. I'm looking forward to more!**

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Things were awkaward between Sam and Daniel for the next couple weeks. Sam mostly because she was still startled by her body's reaction to "the incident" and she was nervous about how she felt about it. It reminded her of her days with Jonas. Well...not quite. Jonas had turned abusive after their engagement. Mark had been suspicious but never said anything to her, mostly because Jonas was around. Finally though, one night after Jonas slipped out for groceries, Mark cornered her and made her show him her back. She remembered hearing an audible gasp at the bruises and welts that colored her it. If she hadn't begged him to silence and not to act or do anything, she knew he would have went straight to the store and beat the living crap out of his future brother-in-law, be it in public or not. About a month after that, Sam and Jonas got into a fight. She never did figure out what it was about, but whatever it was, he was _pissed_ off. He began to savagely beat her, and unluckily for him, General Jacob Carter was coming for a surprise visit to congatulate his daughter on her engagement and happened to have a key. Sam had tried to suffer in silence (which made Jonas even angrier) so Jacob hadn't even noticed anything wrong upon entering. He heard noises from the bedroom and would have left to return earlier except, just as he reached for the doorknob, he heard a strangled, cry of pain and went to investigate. The door was closed and as he got closer he had heard dull thuds. He had quickly opened the door and saw Jonas standing over Sam, who was now huddled on the floor. Without even thinking, he strode over behind the oblivious man and hurled him off of his daughter and began to beat him back for hurting his little girl. He wouldn't have stopped, except for Sam had managed to stand up and layed a hand gently on his shoulder.

Sam shivered at the memory. She had had no power in that relationship and never wanted to be in that position _ever_ again. Suddenly she noticed that her hut had become more active. "What is going on?" she asked one of the other girls--Tayan.

Tayan looked up happily at Sam. "Our Lord Camaxtli is coming!"

"W-what?!" stuttered Sam. After their pervious departure, she wasn't sure if Camaxtli would bother to come to see them again so soon, for cryin' out loud! _'Great,'_ she thought, _'I'm beginning to _think_ like Jack now!'_ She hated to think that they had lost hope of ever going home again, which she had, but since that revelation She had started to think of her former coworkers by their first names instead of ranks and last names.

"We were just as elated as you. He comes in seven sunrises." Tayan unsurprisingly misinterpreted Sam's lapse in words. Sam knew that women here didn't understand the consept of sarcasm so that meant that Tayan was actually ecstatic that Camaxtli was coming and thought Sam was, too. She didn't know what he had done to get this reaction from his people and she had never bothered to ask if he was even considered good or evil.

"Uh, you know I'm new to this world?" She waited for the girl's nod before continuing. "I'm unfamiliar with Camaxtli's rule, other than the fact that women are treated with _no_ respect."

Tayan's eyes narrowed slightly at Sam's not-quite-insult. Then her eyes resumed their wide innocence, probably because she decided that Sam must have been unfamiliar with her dear god to have even subtly suggested that women be equal if not superiour to men. "Camaxtli is a kind and benevolent god. He has never done us wrong. His coming is something to be excited about, for it means that he rewards the hombres y las mujeres he deems worthy of his blessing."

"Blessing?" asked Sam sharply.

Tayan looked shocked at Sam's abrupt change in behavior. "Y-yes," she stammered. "When he himself comes to join two in matrimony."

Sam instantly relaxed. For a second she thought "blessing" translated to "take people to be turned into Goa'uld hosts."

"That's all he's coming to do?" she asked. "In seven da-sunrises. He isn't going to--never mind."

Tayan nodded, already over Sam's miniature outburst. Then she smirked and giggled girlishly. Sam wondered what the girl's exact age was. "Many of us here wish to be joined with your friend, Dahnyel."

Really?" Sam didn't bother to hide the jealousy in her voice.

"Come," said Tayan, pulling Sam toward Sam's clothes chest, which near her mat. Once there she whispered mischiveously, "You wish to be joined with him as well." It was a statement.

Sam flushed, but didn't defend herself. This time, Tayan interpreted Sam's reaction correctly. She, too, said nothing and started digging through Sam's clothes. With a small "ha!" of success, she pulled out two pieces of clothing. One was a cream-colored "shirt" that barely covered much more than a bra would. Its partner was a very short plum skirt that would make even Brittany Spears or Jessica Simpson blush.

"Why do you not court him then? Or at least make him take notice of you?" asked Tayan, holding the articles of clothing up.

Sam's skin flushed a little darker. "Because where I come from, it's usually men who court the women, and Daniel's probably afraid I'd kill him it he tried to court me." _'If he even wants to...'_

"Then _you_ must court _him,"_ coaxed Tayan.

This little woman was beginning to remind Sam of a nosy little doctor she knew, but Sam had no excuse not to change into the clothes seeing as she hadn't let her hut this morning, nor had she "damaged" the more modest clothes she was wearing now, so she reluctantly took the clothes.

She quickly dressed and looked at Tayan for approval. Tayan smiled at her handiwork. "Now go after him," she said, pushing Sam out of the hut. Sam protested but to no avail.

She flushed even darker when Tayan's "getting noticed" plan worked perfectly. On the wrong people! Daniel was no where in sight, but all of the other guys within range were staring at her shamelessly. Quickly, she hurried to Daniel's hut.

The path to his hut acted as a kind of sidewalk for the people who lived in the vicinity. It didn't take her long to get to his hut.

Once at the door, she alternated between raising her hand to knock and putting it back down to her side. She couldn't do it. Why had she let Tayan talk her into this?

Because she wanted--no, had to know. Did Daniel feel the same way she did for him?

She just couldn't do it. Her legs had a mind of their own as she turned and began to walk away. She heard a door creaking.

"Sam?"

She stopped and turned. Daniel stood in the doorway looking very tired, his fairly long hair disheveled. "What are you doing here, and this ea-ear-early?" he asked over a huge yawn.

Sam swallowed and managed to say, "We need to talk."

Daniel seemed to wake up slightly. "Come on in, little lady," he adopted an avertiser voice and gestured at the inside of his home. "We apologise; we seem to have run out of coffee, can we tempt you with a cup of the splendid Offworld Amazon Brew?"

Sam giggled slightly. Walking in, she saw that Daniel had a pretty cozy place. There were two rooms: the main room and the bedroom, which were separated by a large split curtain. Each room had one window, also with curtains, but they were open to welcome the summer sun. The bedroom had the obvious necessities, though Sam enviously noted that he had a bed instead of a mat; it also had a finely made nightstand and probably a dresser on the near wall. The main room had a table, four chairs, and two cubbards, one with a primitive kind of refrigeration, the other for dried foods; and on the other end, it had a sort of couch that seated three and another chair. The hut wasn't large, but it accomidated all of the furnature nicely.

"You've done well with yourself," she commented.

"Well, I haven't lived here for a year and done nothing. I made some of the things myself, like the table, the chairs that go to it, and the icebox. The icebox isn't too much different than what I had in Egypt so it was relatively easy to figure out how to make," he said modestly, albeit with a small bit of pride.

"It's beautiful," said Sam.

"I take it your place is...different?"

"Hell, yeah."

"So...can I get you anything?"

Sam wasn't really in the mood to eat or drink anything at the moment. "N-no thanks," she said quietly.

"Okay," said Daniel, now serious. "Please, sit down and tell me what you wanted to talk about."

Sam aquiested and chose one of the chairs. Daniel sat across from her and waited for her to begin.

"Uh, w-well...I guess first I wanted to apologize for just running off after..." she drifted off. Daniel's cheeks took on a pinkish tint, but Sam continued. "I..." What could she say? 'Uh, Daniel, the incident made me rethink how I felt about you and I realized I _really _care about you. I just came by to see if you felt the same way'? Why not? She cleared her throat. "Uh, I've been doing a lot of thinking since...and I realized that I care about you. I mean, really care about you in ways the military would really dislike. I guess I...I just wanted to know if you felt the same."

Daniel put his face in his hands and began muttering something. "Daniel?" asked Sam hesitantly.

He gave a half-chuckle. "You don't know how worried I was that I was going to be killed for 'the incident'." He stood up and walked over to her. She looked up at him in curiosity, wondering what he was going to say.

Instead he knelt down and kissed her. Her eyes widened in shock. This was the last thing she had expected. After a second, she relaxed and began to return the kiss, intensifying it.

Somehow, Sam was too busy to pay attention, they wandered into the bedroom. Daniel started to slide the straps of her shirt down, but Sam stopped him, suddenly coy.

"Daniel, don't," she whispered.

"Why?" he murmured back.

Because," she said, "Camaxtli's coming in seven days."

"Mm hmm." Daniel began kissing her neck.

Sam shuddered. This felt good. "Daniel, do you like me, love me? Or is this a way for you to feed your lust?"

Daniel stopped. "How can you think that? Yo amo usted," he murmured. He tried to kiss her again but she put her hand to his lips. "Every so often 'He' comes to the plant to marry off single people. If you want, he might let us be 'joined' as Tayan called it"

"There's nothing I'd rather do," replied Daniel.

"But what about Sha're?" asked Sam. She didn't want Daniel doing something perminant that he'd regret later.

Daniel became serious. "I've given this a lot of thought, Sam. I love Sha're, I always will, and I not giving up on her being freed from Ammonet. But she's also not you."

Sam smiled and snuggled into Daniel's chest and he wrapped his arms around her. "I love you," she murmured.

"I love you, too," rumbled Daniel, kissing the top of her head.

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As predicted, Camaxtli arrived in seven days' time. He was quite pleased that his two newest additions were settled in and wanted to become active in the plant's customs, at least the marrige part. To his digust though, the Tau'ri woman, Samantha, still refused to let her spirit be broken. But he had to admit, he had been quite close to making her host to his queen, Chantico.

On the other hand, Sam and Daniel we as okay as they could be with a Goa'uld being near them, but didn't mind is as much because he was about as official as could be with laws, customs, and most importantly, marrige. Sam refused to make love to Daniel yet, because one, she would be breaking some pretty large laws on the planet; and two, she wanted to wait until they were joined so that she could be Daniel's without restraint or secrecy.

When Camaxtli gave his permission, the five couples he selected went to bprepare for the ceremony at dusk.

Tayan, though not among those selected, was more than happy to help Sam with her preparations.

By dusk, all five couples were ready. Sam was wearing a dusky lavender, full-length dress, complete with frills. Her slightly longer than shoulder-length hair had been brushed to sleekness, and she was surprised to find that her hair naturally corkscrewed. Tayan finished it off by weaving tiny purple flowers into Sam's hair to look like a crown.

Daniel and the other four men were wearing tunics that Daniel guessed were of Greek or Roman origin. Daniel, probably _not_ by coincidence, also wore a dusky lavender color.

Camaxtli had the men spread out in a line before him, then called the women to walk over to their soon-to-be joined one. Then he instructed each couple to join hands. Sam's were shaking and Daniel held them in tight reassurance.

Five people, each carrying a scarf, walked forward and bound the couples' hands together before backing away. Camaxtli had the men say something in a n ancient tongue and the women followed suit with a similar phrase. His finished this part by saying another part in the same language. An eerie chanting began as the five people stepped forward once more to remove the scarves. Camaxtli turned around. Neither Sam nor Daniel knew what he did until he turned around with a cerimonial copa in his hands. "Drink," he said and passed it to the first couple. They each took one sip and passed it to the next. They too took one sip as did Sam and Daniel when it was passed to them. The final couple handed it back to him. Camaxtli said one more phrase in that ancient tongue. The chanting continued.

The sun was almost below the horizon when the joining ceremony finished.

Unlike the other joining ceremonies, where Camaxtli hadn't preached, there was no wild celebration as the couples spread out and went back to their huts. The chant still continued and Sam and Daniel walked slowly back to their hut to begin their new life as a joined couple.

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**It was this chapter and the next one that gave me the most trouble. I was about ready to stomp away but Thalia helped come up with new ideas. I have a pretty firm idea where the storm is going now but school is going to prevent me from submitting very often. Maybe about one or two chapters a week. I'll also start having translations for those of you who aren't very familiar with the castillan Spanish language (not to say I'm an expert or anything cause I'm definitely _not_):**

**copa- goblet**

**_(the) _hombres y las mujeres- the men and women**

**yo amo usted- I love you**


	5. Pushed to the Brink

Sue was worried about Colonel O'Neill. Ever since their last mission he had become even more withdrawn. Teal'c and Janet were doing all they could to get him to come back but so far it wasn't working.

It was a normal (yeah right) day at the SCG when the gate activated. General Hammond ordered SG-1 to the control room. She was puzzled when she saw an older man standing on the ramp. "Harlan," whispered Teal'c, noting her expression.

"Comtriya!" greeted the man.

"Ah!" said O'Neill sharply. "Harlan, you get your butt over here and tell us what the hell your doing here on Earth." Sue almost gaped in surprise. She had never seen O'Neill this far forward from withdrawl.

"Oh, okay," 'Harlan' whined. He looked aound. "Where are Captain Carter and Doctor Jackson?"

"_Major_ Carter and Doctor Jackson aren't here, right now," said General Hammond.

"What business do you have on the Tau'ri home planet?" inquired Teal'c.

Harlan looked slightly unnerved but answered anyway. "I have a slight problem. Your doubles took to exploring planets as you do, but this time they haven't come back. It is almost too late," he wimpered.

"What's almost too late?" asked Terry curiously.

"SG-1's doubles are almost out of power. Captain Carter made a brilliant invention that allows us to travel off the planet for extended periods of time. We can stay away for forty-eight of your hours."

"How much time do they have left?" asked General Hammond.

"They have only sixteen hours left. They always returned after twenty-four of your hours but they are far past their deadline. This is not good," Harlan muttered.

"Send a MALP through," ordered Hammond. "We'll see if they're still in the vicinity and if they need any help returning to Harlan's planet."

Twenty minutes later, a MALP was assembled and travelling throught the wormhole. Once on the otherside, Harriman panned the camera around and Sue had to do a double take when she saw who was on the otherside. It was Colonel O'Neill.

In the end, SG-1 gated to the planet, met all of the robots except for the Doctor Jackson one, whose head was blown off. They beat Cronus and gated back with the Robo-SG-1's bodies. Harlan then left to make the Robo-Daniel "better" and to reactivate the others.

Terry and Sue had been excited to meet one of the famed former memebers of SG-1. Sadly, they hadn't had much time to chit-chat before her power source died.

The team had debriefed three hours ago and was now relaxing in their own separate places. Sue was in the infirmary talking to Janet and her adopted daughter, Cassie. Terry was in her lab, trying to figure out how one of her many alien devices worked. She had no idea where Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c were.

"Major Carter seemed nice," commented Sue into thin air.

"She was the best," agreed a quiet voice behind her. Sue turned and saw Cassie.

"Hi," she said. Cassie smiled in reply and sat down on an empty bed.

"I miss Sam so much," she sniffed.

"Did you know her long?" asked Sue.

"Only a couple of years. She stayed with me, you know," said Cassie into space.

"No, I haven't heard about that," said Sue, trying to coax the girl on.

"Nirrti made me into a--a 'Trojan Horse' I think Daniel called it. There was a naquadah bomb building up in my chest so that whenever I got near the gate, I'd get really sick. When they found out about it, they took me to the old nuclear facility. Sam brought me down, but I woke up from the coma I was in. I asked if she was going to leave me. She said no. We went to the bottom level and she put me in a room and hurried out. I was so afraid she wouldn't come back and that I was abandoned again. She came back and held me past the deadline time they thought I would detonate," said Cassie bitterly. "She had promised that she would never leave me, that I wasn't alone any more. Sam kept her promise when it really mattered."

"Wow," said Sue. "You know, no one will tell me or Ter anything about them. Everone seem to hate us, especially Colonel O'Neill. Only Janet and Teal'c show any signs of compassion toward us."

"Why?"

"I've heard that Colonel O'Neill used to be the life of the party, so to speak but since Major Carter and Doctor Jackson...he just hasn't...he's withdrawn. Terry is the person on our team who's sarcastic and stuff so I think they don't really like her because in a way she's replaced both Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter. I'm the new archaeologist of the team, so therefore I've replaced Doctor Jackson," said Sue bitterly.

"How long have you worked on SG-1?" asked Cassie incredulously.

"Uh...about...eleven months," replied Sue. "Why?"

"You've been living with these people's crap for almost a year?! Have they been giving the cold shoulder since then?" the girl demanded.

"Yeah. Both me and Terry," replied Sue.

"The airmen here have said some things, like you two were hardcore and ignored everyone. No wonder! If they've been giving you all this sh--crap then I'm not surprised you are ignoring them," said Cassie.

"It's not like that," said Sue quickly. "We tried to make nice at first but everyone hated us for being the replacements and _they _ingored_ us._ But then, they also wanted us to socialize, which is a little hard, I might add, when the people you're socializing with hate you and want nothing to do with you. After that, Ter and I just stuck together. We've been close friends since the adademy so we were fine with that."

"You know you sound kind of like Daniel when you say that," Cassie commented.

"O-oh, how so?"

"You're defending them, sort of, even though they're being cruel to you. And you're trying to find the bright side of the situation. And according to Mom, you and Captain Roland are kind of like Jack and Daniel. Daniel was always quiet and very persuasive, he almost always got Jack to let him do whatever he wanted. Jack was always making sarcastic comments...loudly," answered Cassie. "But despite their differences, they got along great." They were silent for a moment. Suddenly, Cassie said, "Mom's great and all, but I wonder what would have happened if Sam and--I mean, _or_ Daniel adopted me," said Cassie sheepishly. Sue would have left it at that if the girl's cheeks hadn't turned a bright red.

"What?" asked Sue suspiciously.

"Nothing. I can't say," Cassie responded quickly. "It's a promise I made to Daniel."

"Oh."

They fell into a long silence.

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"You know what?" asked Terry, beating the crap out of a punching bag.

"Hmm?" asked Sue.

In mock respect, Terry replied, "With all due respect for dear Colonel O'Neill, he's acting like a baby with a stick up his ass."

"Ter," said Sue warningly.

"What? He's not here to hear me, and it's not like he'll court-martial me, because I _was_ being respectful when I said it," argued Terry. "Besides, you know it's true. Ever since he saw Robo-Carter he's been this way."

"Do you blame him? He just saw someone he was once close to and didn't even get a chance to see the other," hissed Sue.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do blame him," returned Terry. "He doesn't need to be such an asshole about all of this. You _know_ I'm right." And with that, she stalked out of the weight room.

"Ter!" Sue called, but Terry was either out of earshot or just ignoring her. "You can be such a five-year-old," she muttered. She sighed and went to shower and change.

Luckily, no one else was there so she quickly got in and out without having to worry about being harrassed by anyone.

Her stomach growled, and she blushed despite the fact no one was here. When she tried to open the door, she rudely dicovered that someone locked it from the outside. "Son of a bitch," she growled. Her cheeks redder than ever when she did the only thing she could think of: pounding on the door as hard as she could. A couple of airmen passed the door but, after realizing who it was, just walked on and ingored the trapped woman. "Dammit to hell!" shouted Sue. Over her furious swearing and pounding, she managed to catch the sound of feet and shouted spitefully, "I bet you never did this to your percious Daniel Jackson! Or brainiac Carter!" She fell to the floor, her back to the wall, fists clenched furiously.

Then she heard the door click and Harriman poked his face in. "Actually ma'am, I heard stories that when Doctor Jackson first arrived, the marines thought the exact same prank would be funny to try with him. They were too afriad of Major Carter to try it with her."

"So they thought it'd be funny to act like retarded little babies and lock me in the fucking showers?!" fumed Sue. This crap had gone of long enough. The second she found out who did this...oh, there'll be hell to pay! Harriman just stared at her in shock. Up until this point, Sue had been sweet and quiet. Now she was...vengeful, hateful, were the only words that first came to mind, and not for lack of truth.

"So! Do you think they went to the cafeteria to gloat over their little prank?" demanded Sue.

"I-I don't--"

"Oh, never mind!" Sue stormed off toward the cafeteria.

She slammed the door open and the caf grew quiet. "Whoever just executed their little prank will have hell to pay when I find you!" she shouted. "You know who you are! Captain Roland and I have done _nothing_ to you, and you think it's funny to mess with us? We have been getting a crapload of shit since we got here for no reason. I know Terry's about ready to smash some heads, and I'm inclined to agree. Court-martial or not, if I find you, or someone else pulls shit like that again, I will personally track you down and make you pay!" She stormed off. The cafeteria only grew to a steady hum instead of the deafening roar it had been before Sue entered.

She ran into Terry in the hall. "Sue! I just heard are you--" But Sue held her hand up.

"Terry, I am not in the mood. I don't want to say or do something to you I might regret," growled Sue and she continued on to her lab.

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When Terry opened the door to the cafeteria, she was urprised to hear it so quiet, and even more so to see people looking at her cautiously, as if she might do...whatever Sue had done. Without an word, she got into line and picked out some food. Glancing around, she saw Janet sitting in the far corner. She quickly went to join her new friend.

"Hi Janet," she said in a low voice. "Uh, why is it so quiet in here?"

Janet looked up. "Sue just gave these people something to think about."

"Sue?" Terry joked, but quickly sobered when Janet's face remained serious. "What happened?"

"She didn't specify, but she stormed into the cafeteria, really pissed off and started yelling at everyone in here about how someone pulled a prank and that the both of you hadn't done anything to desreve anything done to them. She also said something about you two getting ready to kill some people," replied Janet.

"Sue? Yelling at everybody?" Man, Sue must have been _really_ pissed at someone.

"I believe her parting words were, 'Court-martial or not, if I find you, or someone else pulls shit like this again, I will personally track you down and make you pay.'"

"Our Sue said that?" asked Terry.

Janet nodded, taking a bite of her sandwich. She chewed thoughtfully, and said, "I think she made quite an impression because she never--"

"Acts like me when someone 'pranks' me?" finished Terry.

Janet paused then nodded. "Something like."

"After I finish, I'm gonna go talk to her," Terry decided. She wasn't sure if Sue was like her and need to cool off for a while, or whether she was going to be angry for a while.

Janet finished her sandwich. "Well, if either of you need me, I'm going to be in my office," she said before departing.

Terry nodded. Ten minutes later and she headed to Sue's lab, probably the most likely place to find her. Just Terry's luck, her friend was there.

"Sue?" she asked softly.

Sue glanced up indifferently. "Come to scold me for not believing you and letting a bunch of assholes do that?" she asked coldly.

Terry winced. She deserved that. "Uh, sorry about loosing my temper earlier. What happened?"

"Some fucking toddlers thought it's be cute to lock the nice Air Force Captian in the showers. I know it sounds stupid, but it was the intent that makes me so angry, you know? All my life, my Dad gave me the same crap and I never _once_ complained or did anything about it. Now I have to deal with that _every_ _day _at my job, and I'm sick of it! They just thought I'd take it in stride, well the person who did it _will_ pay. I am not tolerating that, that garbage any more."

"Sue, I was wrong. Just let it go," said Terry.

"Not this time, Ter. You are either with me against the base, or you're with the base against me," said Sue. "Take your pick."

"I'm with you," sighed Terry resignedly. "They wouldn't be happy if I sided with them anyway."

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**Some girls at school recently decided to try something that really pissed me off and I decided to put that into my story (besides, it adds some conflict from someone you wouldn't really expect to be so angry.)**

**R&R.**


	6. Invisible Friends

**I apologize because I said every other chap. would be Sam and Daniel, but Thalia had ideas in store for Sue and Terry. This chapter takes place during 'Ascension'. I might put a part with Sam and Daniel towards the end, but it depends on what Thalia decides and if it's really long or not (I warn you now, it probably will be). If you're mad, don't hate me, hate the muse!**

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It had gotten to the point that even Terry was wary of Sue. The 'phase' she had assumed Sue was going through did not end when most would. Even three months hadn't dimmed the anger that burned in Sue's heart. In public, Sue was tough, emotonless, but when Sue was alone with friends, she was the old Sue, unless someone brought up her past or the prank. Terry understood where Sue was coming from, she really did. She'd been there herself...a lot. She just hadn't expected Sue to hold on to her anger. But then, Sue _had_ warned her that she wouldn't let this go. Ashamedly, Terry was kind of proud of Sue for that.

Sue, on the other hand, just wanted some respect. She hadn't gotten it by being nice, maybe she would get it by being colder, harder. Teal'c and Janet hadn't approved of Sue's new point of view, but supported her when she needed it.

At least no one had tried anything against her again. She had a suspicion about who had locked her in the showers but she still had to confirm it, hopefully with some help from Janet, the Gossip Queen.

Sadly, that would have to wait until they were back from their mission to P3X-636. Presently, they discovered the planet's civilization had mysteriously been wiped out. Terry and Sue were inside one of the buildings; Sue was looking at the walls, while Terry was too busy looking at her "big honkin' space gun" to notice much else. Suddenly, Terry saw a bright flash and jumped back. When her eyes readjusted, she saw Sue lying in a heap near the wall.

Terry's adrenaline shot up. Whatever had done that to Sue might do the same to her. "Help! Colonel, Teal'c!" she cried at the top of her lungs. When they didn't come, she kept calling.

Finally, the blessed calvary arrived. "Sir! I don't know what happened, there was a bright flash and when my eyes readjusted, I saw her just lying here," said Terry, panicked.

O'Neill made a disgusted grunt in his throat and ordered, "Calm down, Captain. We'll get her back and she'll be fine."

"Yes, sir," responded Terry, her mind rationalizing enough to prevent her from slapping the colonel for the withering glare he gave the unconcious Sue.

A few minutes later they returned throught the gate, Teal'c carrying Sue, who was beginning to regain conciousness.

They hurried to the infirmary, which by that time, Sue was fully concious, but still disoriented.

"Colonel, what happened," demanded Hammond, puffing, after having chased Teal'c and Terry to the infirmary. O'Neill had arrived just before Hammond.

"Actually, sir, I was hoping Captains Kelly or Roland could tell us," said O'Neill. "They're worse than Daniel was at getting into things they shouldn't."

Hammond glared at him, before turning to the two captains. "Do you have any idea what happened?"

Terry responded first. "Sue was looking at the wall for writings and I was looking at what appeared to be a weapon when there was a bright flash. When I could see again, I noticed Sue unconcious on the floor."

"I don't remember anything, sir," added Sue. "I was observing some writings that looked Ancient and then I remember being here."

Janet walked over. "Well, I can't find anything wrong with you, unless it's just stress," she pointedly added the last part. "Okay, everyone out so I can see to my patient. And you--" she said as Terry opened her mouth, "--can get showered then return here. I take that back. I don't want to see you near that door for at least a half an hour. And if I do see you, then you have to wait at least another half hour, plus get checked out with my _largest_ needles."

"Okay, okay," said Terry, raising her hands in an 'I surrender' gesture.

The three-quarters of SG-1 that was not lying in an infirmary bed got up and left, leaving Janet with her victim.

"Is there something I should know?" asked Sue cautiously.

"Other than you need to get rid of your stress you've collected since your little break down.'"

"You make it sound...different, worse...than it was," protested Sue.

"You've been extremely stressed out since then. I suggest you take some leave, ah! and I won't take no for an answer. You are to take the next two weeks off and I don't want to see you on this base unless it's an emergency," warned Janet, waving a suspiciously large needle.

"Fine," grumbled Sue.

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One hour and several shots later, Sue was finally home. It was almost dark out.

There were no messages on her machine so she went to the bathroom to shower before she went to bed.

Once done, she wrapped a towel around her and wipped off the foggy mirror. Then she opened it and grabbed a comb. She shut the door and screamed, the comb clattered to the floor. She whirled around, fists raised and looked at the spot behind her where she had seen the reflection of a guy. No one was there.

_'That's...odd,'_ she thought in confusion as she bent down to pick of the comb. She knew she had seen a man standing behind her. _'Maybe Janet's right. I am very stressed out.'_

She combed out her long brown hair then brushed her teeth. Suddenly, she stopped and stood up straight. She could almost feel eyes boring into her from somewhere. Shrugging it off as stress, she finished and went to her bedroom to dress in her pajamas. The feeling still bothered her, so she went to shut her bedroom door and had to do a double take in the next room. This time she was sure she had seen someone there.

"H-hello?" she called out hesitantly. No one answered so she shut and locked her door.

The bed was nice and warm and she was so tired that she was out the moment her head touched the pillow. She couldn't be sure, but just before sleep claimed her, she thought she felt someone kiss her gently on the cheek.

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Sunlight streamed into Sue's bedroom. She opened her eyes and flinched at the beam of light that stretched across her face. Lying there for a minute, she tried to remember exactly what happened yesterday.

She had been looking at the symbols on the wall, that much she knew. The next thing she had been conciously aware of was intense warmth and then she was staring up at Teal'c who was carrying her to the infirmary. She blinked. There was obviously something missing, she just didn't know what, the lapse in memory was slightly unnerving. Nothing like thathad happened to before.

Sue sighed. If she wasn't going to come up with anything useful, then there was no point in just lying around in bed. She got up and began to fix breakfast. _'Yum,'_ she thought, _'cold cerial, my favorite.'_

Today, she didn't have the feeling of being watched, so breakfast was eaten without a worry or paranoid thought.

It was when she wen to get her mail that the uneasy feeling came back. Sue went out side and picked up the paper. When she stood up again, there was a creepy (but kind of cute) guy standing infront of her in the middle of the road.

"Hi," he said.

"Uh, hi," she replied.

"How are you?" he asked.

The guy was starting to worry her. "Good. How are you?"

"Fine. It is nice to meet you."

"Uh huh. Are you from around here?"

"No. But this is where you live."

_'What the hell? Not that it's obvious or anything, but is this guy a stalker or something, 'cause he's really starting to freak me out?'_ She said aloud, "Yeah, um...I'm going back in now."

Giving him a you-are-creeping-me-out-so-get-away look, she scurried back into the house.

She put the mail on the island in her kitchen. There was nothing better to do, so she called Terry.

The phone rang twice. "Yo, this is Captain Terry Roland speaking. I'm busy, but if you leave a message, I promise I'll call back. Thank y'all. Bye!"

"Hey, Ter, it's just me. I'm bored sick and there's this guy standing outside my street whose really creeping me out. Uh, I guess I was just calling to see in there was anything new and exciting you've discovered about your 'big honkin' space gun', but you're busy now, so I'll probably call back later. Bye." Feeling disheartened, Sue turned around and the guy who was just outside was standing right in front of her.

"How did you get in here?" she demanded.

"I won't hurt you," the man said reassuringly.

"You're right, 'cause I'll hurt you if you get any closer," threatened Sue. She turned the phone on and began to dial.

"Please don't," the man begged. "I just want to speak with you."

"About what?" asked Sue, turning the phone off but keeping it in hand.

"It's complicated," said the man uneasily.

"Okay, then. Let's start with how you got into my house."

"I followed you home last night." He was _really_ starting to creep her out.

"You were the person I saw in the mirror and in the other room? How?" Sue demanded sharply.

Them man ignored her. "I read some of your books and watched you television so I could learn what to wear. Is this alright?" he asked, looking down at his clothes.

"How?" Sue asked again.

"I took this form so that we could relate. This is actually how I used to look before my ascension."

_'This guy is a major wack-job. I'm calling, the cops,'_ thought Sue, beginning to dial her phone again.

"Please don't do this. I am not crazy," begged the man.

The line was dead. Sue slammed the phone down angrily. "Who are you?"

"I am called Orlin," said the man. "I came from the planet you just visited yesterday. I followed you through the Stargate."

"Now, how is that possible?" asked Sue. How on Earth (no pun intended) had this guy found out about the gate?

Orlin walked forward--right through her island--to stand in front of her. She backed quickly up against her sink.

"In my natual, non-corporeal state, I can become invisible."

Sue began to panic. "What do you want?"

"I'm sorry if I scared you, I just wanted to talk to you. It's been so long since I…I…I know this is going to seem…ok, I'll just come out and say it and then move on from there. I have these, I guess you could call them feelings..."

Sue began to edge around and finall had the freedom to run away, not even bothering to let Orlin finish.

She drove back to the SGC as fast as the law would allow. This _had_ to qualify for an emergancy. Security let her in, unable to force her into staying longer out of spite, for fear of General Hammond's wrath. Sue hurried to General Hammond's office. Luckily Terry was there; she wouldn't have to say this twice.

"Captain, I thought you were only supposed to come back if there was an emergancy," said General Hammond.

"There's been one, sir," Sue panted. "Well, sort of."

He motioned for her to continue.

"After I got home last night, I had the feeling I was being watched. I thougth I saw someone in my house a couple of times, but I just passed it off as stress, like Janet said. Today, I went out and got my paper and this weird guy was standing there. I was polite and said a small greeting and went back into the house. I called Terry, but she didn't answer, so I hung up, turned around and the guy was standing across from me on the other side of my island.

"He tried telling me that he wasn't going to hurt me, then he says he came from the planet I was just at and that he followed us through the gate."

"Get to the point please, Captain," said Hammond, although he looked worried.

"He walked through my island and told me all this stuff about being non-corporeal and crap. I wanted to request someone to set up some bugs and cameras in my house just in case he comes back," said Sue.

Hammond looked at her doubtfully. "Sir, I'd have to be a lot more stressed than I am at the moment in order to start hallucinating," she pointed out.

"I think we should, sir," added Terry.

Alright," said General Hammond.

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Sue had to adjust to life under surveilance, but it really wasn't so bad in the sense that it kept Orlin away.

Too bad it didn't last. As soon as the cameras were gone, he came back. The worst part was, earlier General Hammond suggested (more of a subtle order, actually) that she get a psyche eval.

She had just returning from said evaluation and turned on the living room lights.

"I know why you did it," said an unpleasantly familiar voice behind her.

"Of course you would wait until the cameras were gone," Sue muttered.

"Your job would have been in jeopary if you hadn't reported me."

Sue's patience snapped. "I just got back from a psychological evaluation Do you know what that is?" she demanded angrily.

"They think you're crazy," Orlin said simply in his annoying monotone.

"Am I?"

"There were times on Velona I thought I was loosing my mind."

"Velona?"

"You refer to it as 636. I had been there for hundreds of years by myself, then I saw you--"

"Look--" Sue tried to interrupt.

He raised his hand to silence her. "Please, let me finish. Then I saw you and I began to eperience feelings I hadn't experienced sinse my ascension.

"My kind are capable of a level of communication that shares out innermost essence. It is not exactly and exchange of thought or memory. It's sort of an exchange of spirit," he explained.

"And you did this exchange on me?"

"Yes, but unfortunately, you passed out. I think that a human is capable of it if they are receptive. But I think that you just weren't ready. I did learn about you though."

"Oh, and what did you learn?" Sue was curious to see what he would say.

"That you are a good person, pure of heart and spirit."

_'Okay enough bad flattery.'_ "Fine I'll try your exchange again. What do I do?" asked Sue in exasperation.

"Close your eys and open your mind completely."

Sue closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to open her mind. Then she felt a familiar intense warmth, this time accompanied by feeling of caring, and love, and honesty, and others that she couldn't even describe. For the moment, she felt so...free.

Sue gasped and opened her eyes. Orlin's face was very close to hers. "Oh my god," she whispered. His eyes suddenly flickered upward toward the clock in the kitchen.

"There appears to be something hidden in your...clock, isn't it?" he said softly.

Sue dragged her gaze away from Orlin and turned to look at the clock. "I don't believe it," she hissed. There was a tiny camera hidden in it.

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Sue brought the clock in and showed it to Terry. Terry regretfully informed her that no one believed in the man Sue had seen. She hadn't known about the clock though...she _said._ Sue wasn't sure if she could trust anyone at the SGC anymore, even Terry.

That night, she and Orlin went on a walk and she told him how she felt and the problem all of this has caused. They eventually started flirting and returned back to her house, where Orlin had a dinner set up.

When Sue asked how, he replied that he had become fully corporeal. He had made sure the door to the dining room was closed so she wouldn't notice when she returned home. Suddenly to doorbell rang.

"Crap," she muttered and opened it to find Terry.

"Hey, Sue," said Terry cheerfully. "I brought snacks and movies. Marathon sound good?"

Sue glanced back in and saw Orlin patiently waiting out of sight of the door. "Actually, I'm kind of busy," she said, slightly flustered.

Terry smirked. "Is there a _guy_ in there? You know, I think I'll just leave." She winked at Sue and went back to her truck. Sue waved and went back in.

"Oh boy," she muttered.

Over dinner, Orlin told her more about how he came to Velona and about "The Others." He had actually "communicated" how to build the weapon they had found on Velona and that it ended up destroying all life on the planet.

"Why did you retake human form? Sue asked suddenly.

"I did it as much for myself as for you," he calmly replied.

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At the SGC the next day, Sue, Terry, SG-16, Colonel Simmons and General Hammond sat around the briefing table.

Colonel Reynolds was saying how the weapon was now ready.

"With all due respect, sirs," Sue interrupted. All eyes landed on her. "I think we should postpone the testing. It's too dangerous."

"We at the Pentagon believe it is worth the risks," said Simmons smoothly.

Terry went to defend her friend. "I agree with Sue, we don't know what it will do when we activate it."

"Captain Roland, need I remind you of the dangers we're trying to defend Earth against?" asked Simmons testily.

Terry widened her eyes innocently. "Could you? And please, go slow."

Sue choked down a laugh and continued with her debate. "Sirs, I believe the device on 636 will caused an atmosphereic weather anomoly big enough to destroy all of the civilization on the planet."

An angry Simmons gave her two weeks to come up with plausible evidence to support her theory. The problem with that was, Sue was an archaeologist, not a sciencey scientist like Terry, which would have made this a lot easier. Sue had already decided not to trust anyone at the SGC, which also meant that asking Terry for help was out of the question.

Orlin was waiting for her when she arrived home. He handed her something fairly small, but heavy and was also wrapped up. She undid the wrapping and found an emerald.

He had made it out of her microwave, she found out, but he made it because the emerald was her birthstone. It was also apparently genuine. Sue was speechless.

"Uh, we need to talk about something," she finally said. "Let's take a walk."

They went to the park and discussed what Sue was going to do about finding evidence. She suggested that they would only use it to defend themselves from the Goa'uld, so maybe it would be okay to use. Orlin pointed out that the atom bomb was made with the same intention.

Orlin commented on the fact that she had no hard evidence without exposing him and Sue said that she would feel bad betraying him. It wasn't true and he knew it. She was beginning to like him, which he also seemed to know.

One week, Sue was called to General Hammond's office. Colonels O'Neill and Simmons and General Hammond were waiting for her.

"Sirs, what's going on?" she asked.

"We're testing the weapon," said Simmons smugly. Hammond looked at him in dissproval.

"I received the order directly from the president. Reynolds team is setting up Captain Roland's naquadah reactor as we speak," he said.

"It's only been seven days, I was supposed to have--"

Simmons interrupted Sue's protest. "I daresay, Captain, that you haven't spent any of that time working on finding hard evidence."

"With all due respect, sir, but what's that supposed to mean?" Sue demanded.

"Could you explain these deliveries?" returned Simmons.

Sue was stumped. "What deliveries?" she asked curiously.

"One hundred pounds of raw titanium, two hundred feet of fiber optic cable, seven 100,000 watt industrial strength capacitators. The list goes on. All of it was ordered from your home computer."

"I've been here at the base everyday. I have no idea what you are talking about."

Simmons poorly tried to hide a smirk. "Maybe you can explain who's been accepting these deliveries." He handed her a bunch of photos of Orlin and some with her in the shots. A few were even from her walk yesterday.

"You _have_ been watching me," she said, shocked.

"The Pentagon, not us Captain. I'm sorry," said Hammond, truly apologetic.

"Would you like to tell us what's going on Captain?" asked Simmons.

O'Neill spoke up. "She doesn't have to tell you squat. Captain Kelly has been working with the approval of her superior officers." It took an effort for Sue not to gape at him. He was actually defending her and showing signs of what everyone called the "Old O'Neill".

"Now Colonel," said Simmons admonishingly, "I'm not here to lay the blame on anybody. I'm just here as a courtesy." To Sue he said, "Right now, a team of special forces is surrounding your house and when I give the command, they will go in and take the alien into custody.

Sue's heart sank. There was no way she would be able to warn Orlin. "Come on," said Simmons.

He and Colonel O'Neill led her out and into a car. Terry joined up with them, questions all over her face. The four of them drove over to Sue's house, which true to Simmons's word, was surrounded by a team of SFs. They got out.

"What's going on?" questioned Simmons.

"The suspect is definitely in there but he isn't responding," answered the SF leader.

O'Neill spoke up again in a monotone. "Let Kelly go in. The place is sealed off; he won't go anywhere. She can go in and bring him out."

Terry looked at him in surprise, then she looked at Sue, who shook her head as a signal to be quiet.

"Give her a radio," Simmons ordered.

The SF gave Sue a flashlight and a radio. She walked cautiously into the house, calling Orlin's name.

She heard a faint response, "Sue? Come on down."

She went down into the basement and met Orlin plugging something into a fusebox, which showered sparks.

"I know they sent you down to bring me up. I can't though. I have to stop your people from activating that weapon," said Orlin, walking into the other room.

Sue stopped dead in surprise. Orlin had build a gate in _her basement_. That explained the odd deliveries.

"Whoa. Y-you've been busy," she said weakly.

"I knew I wouldn't be able to go through your Stargate--"

"So you build one?"

"In a way. This one will only go to Velona and has enough power for only one trip before it burns out."

Sue's radio crackled. "Yo, Sue," came Terry's voice.

Sue didn't respond.

"Sue?" Terry tried again.

Over the radio, Sue and Orlin faintly heard orders being given to enter the house.

The gate activated. Over the noise, Sue shouted, "I'm going with you!"

Orlin nodded and they dived into the gate. The trip was different somehow but Sue figured it was the fact they entered through a home-made wormhole. There was no time to further ponder this as Orlin had already taken off as soon as they had exited and was running top speed for the building with the weapon. Sue followed but didn't catch up in time. She heard a couple of shots.

"Orlin!" she cried. When she arrived at the entrance, she saw that Orlin was still on his feet but bleeding heavily from two gunshot wounds. "Sir, lower your weapon!" she called to Reynolds over the weapon's power-up.

"He attacked us!" Reynolds yelled back.

"He has good reason for wanting to stop this!" Sue shouted.

"We can't do that! Captain Roland's instructions clearly said that the device will overload is stopped!"

"Shit!" hissed Sue.

"I can't let the weapon be destroyed!" shouted Reynolds.

Orlin suddenly dived forward and Reynolds shot him.

"No!" cried Sue. She was torn between happiness and sadness as Orlin succeeded in disconnecting the cables, but fatally wounded in the process. The weapon lost power and died.

Sue rushed to Orlin and put his head in her lap. "I can't believe how much this hurts," he whispered.

"Just hang on," she replied tearily.

"We gotta go Captain!" called Reynolds. The naquadah generator was beginning to overload.

"I have to go," Orlin whispered, touching her face. "They're giving me another chance. It's the only way to save you."

He began to glow and Sue realized he was re-ascending. She watched as he floated over the reactor and took it up into the sky. Lightning shot down and destroyed the weapon. Sue looked down at Orlin's empty clothes and the tears began to flow down her face.

She then looked at the sky where Orlin had left and the clouds began to clear, revealing a beautiful blue sky.

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**Sorry, that went _way_ longer than I expected. Thank you to those that managed to finish. As a reward, the next chapter will be a fairly long S/D chapter. R&R.**


	7. Endings and Beginnings

**This time Thalia was nice enough to give me a little inspiration for this part. I know for a fact that there will be at least ten chapters, seven of which are now done. This (and the next chap) takes place during 'Meridian'.**

**I'll be kind enough to stop now so you can read.**

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_'I can't do this,'_ thought Sam in exasperation.

Daniel was away at a village council meeting (being married now, he had to attend, though others were reluctant because he wasn't a native) and she was left home to cook. She looked at her flour-covered hands in disgust. _'I can look Death in the eye, and _literally_ die and come back, I can shoot at and kill over a dozen armored Jaffa, but I can't cook to save my life.'_

That was why Daniel had been the one to cook. They both knew Sam's lack of ability and he took over the chore by silent, mutual consent.

It was also by silent, mutual consent that they never spoke of home or anyone there. This was home now and these were their people, whether they liked it or not. She had definitely thought about everyone. And especially wondered whether Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c were alive and okay, brainwashed and serving Camaxtli, or just plain dead. She hoped it wasn't the second one, and really hoped it was the first one.

She and Daniel had long-since given up hope of being found. The Tok'ra had no business with the people here and neither did any of their other allies. The only chance they would have was being taken by another Goa'uld System Lord, but seeing how Camaxtli was so low on the food chain, that wasn't likely either.

In the two years they had been in this planet, Sam hated to admit that it actually _was_ home now. Both she and Daniel had really good friends, a decent place to live, and this was a fairly safe planet if you stayed out of the forest at night. They would never stop missing Earth and their friends, but without a Stargate, they had resigned themselves to the fact that they had no chance of seeing Earth or its people again.

There was a knock at the door. Sam was relieved that there would be some distraction from cooking and dismal thoughts. Opening it, she saw Tayan.

"Come in," she said, quickly ushering the girl in. "So, come to see me?" she asked jokingly. There would be no other reason for Tayan to visit this side of the village if she wasn't here to see Sam.

Finally learning to grasp the concept of jokes and sarcasm, Tayan smiled. "Yes. I have good news. Dahnyel's idea of a woman healer is official. It seems women are gentler and the men like that," smirked Tayan. "I have decided I would like that position."

"Did the entire plan go through?" asked Sam.

Tayan nodded. "I have been giving thought to your planet's laws and how women are equal. If I were to become the healer, then I would have a higher position in our society."

"Yeah, but you can never marry or have children if you take this position," Sam pointed out.

"I can never be under the power of a man again," returned Tayan. "I do not wish to be under their power anymore. I understand you're beliefs now." Her eyes were bright with life that Sam hadn't seen before. "You do not understand what it has been like to live in this inferior postion your entire life. That is why the women are the way they are; believing that there is no other way but to live under men's control. You are my friend and I accepted your beliefs, but now I understand why you hard such a hard time adjusting. Your beliefs and values would not let you become submissive to those you saw as equals. And the position of healer isn't perminant, so if I no longer wanted to continue, I wouldn't have to."

Sam laughed inwardly at Tayan's turn-around. "I just wanted to make sure you wanted the position," she said in mock defense. "So have you studied up?"

It was a good thing Tayan and Sam had been friends for the better part of Sam's time on the planet, so Tayan understood Sam's jokes and the way she spoke.

"Yes, I have," Tayan replied, albeit a bit smugly. Then she turned serious. "You are not with child yet?"

Sam's cheerful mood dimmed instantly. "No. We-we've tried since we got ma-joined but no, I'm not. Why?" She didn't want to admit the possibility that she or Daniel might be sterile. The thought had definitely crossed both their minds, but it was another mutual silence subject.

Tayan said exactly what Sam didn't want to hear. "There my be something wrong. I should make sure that you or Dahnyel are not sick."

"We have a problem of Earth. We aren't completely positive what causes it, but it's called sterility. It means that you are unable to have a child. It occurs in both men and women," Sam reluctantly explained.

"And you fear that you or Dahnyel might not be able to have a child," said Tayan gently. She put a reassuring hand on Sam's shoulder. "You must pray to Chiconahui and hope that she takes favor of you and sends you a child."

"Yeah...yeah, I'll do that," said Sam somberly.

The door opened and Daniel trudged in looking dead on his feet. Out of habit, Tayan quickly stood up and looked at the floor.

Daniel didn't notice. "Hey Sam, Tayan." He kissed Sam on the lips. "I'm going to take a nap. I have been up all night and it's surprisingly hard to pull two all nighters in a row without coffee and chocolate." He smiled and walked into the bedroom.

Sam smiled in amusement. She looked at Tayan who was watching the curtains to the bedroom nervously. "You don't need to do that for Daniel," said Sam softly.

Tayan jumped. "It is as I said Samantha, you have not lived your entire life here. I have suffered my fair share of beatings because I showed lack of respect for men. As you would say, 'Old habits die hard.' I shall take my leave now."

Sam stood up and hugged her friend. "Thanks for your advice. You are welcome to come back any time you want," said Sam. "Daniel won't hurt you." Sam released the girl and held her at armslength. "In fact, he told me himself that he would like to get to know you. You remind me of one of my old friends and I think Daniel misses her. He knows that you have to be nice if you are like her," Sam said reassuringly.

Tayan smiled. "I shall take that into consideration. Do not worry. I will return."

Sam opened the door and her friend walked out.

Judging by the sun's location, it was barely even midday. Sam gave up on trying to cook. She went to the dried food cubbard and picked out the Camaxan form of apples. She cut it up and found a sweet substance that was like the milk from a cocoanut to dip the slices in. Daniel had discovered the mix soon after he arrived and it had to substitute for some of the Earth sweets they no longer had.

Both agreed that coffee was the number one food and/or drink they missed the most. Sam missed raspberry jell-o next and Daniel missed all things chocolate. It was one of their long-going debates about which was better: jell-o or chocolate.

She nibbled at the fruit. It didn't seem to taste as good today and not because of overripeness (especially considering it was dried). The subect of the fact she or Daniel might not be able to have children left a bitter flavor in her mouth. Maybe she should pray to Chiconahui. It wouldn't hurt, considering Chiconahui was an Aztec fertility goddess. She'd have nothing to loose. Except self-respect. Chiconahui was probably another lesser System Lord, which would mean that Sam would be praying to a false god. It may have been something left over from Jolinar or sheer grit, but Sam absolutely refused to pray to a false god.

Sam must have dozed off because the next thing she knew, Daniel was shaking her gently to wake up and it was getting close to evening. "Hey," he said.

She blinked owlishly. "How long was I asleep?" she asked.

"A few hours. I just woke up about and hour ago and saw you asleep at the table. I didn't think that was very comfortable, so I moved you to the bed," he explained.

"Ah, no it probably wouldn't of been good to wake up cramped because of a wooden table," she smirked.

"So what did Tayan want?" asked Daniel, sitting next to her on the bed.

"She came by to tell me she's going to be the next village healer. I never did doubt that you could convince them to pass that. You are _very_ persuasive," she said.

"I thought flirting was reserved for young and in-love couples," said Daniel playfully.

Sam slapped his shoulder. "Last I checked, we _are_ young and in love. Now, I'm hungry. All I had was a couple of those apple slices."

"That's good," said Daniel. "That you're hungry. Kaluck and his party managed to kill a ciervo."

"Really?" replied Sam interested, "Those are really hard to kill. How'd he manage _that?"_

"A lot of help," said Daniel seriously.

"I wish it would have killed him," muttered Sam.

"Sam," Daniel said admonishingly. "He's the second-chieftan."

"He also hates us," argued Sam. "Especially me, because I refuse to let him walk all over me."

"True, but I don't want him dead just for that. It's not their fault Camaxtli taught their ancestors those beliefs and in turn those beliefs were passed down. It's just the way they've always been and they dodn't want to change," said Daniel reasonably.

"Tayan wants to," Sam said quietly.

"And Kaluck and all the other men didn't even have to die for her to see that."

"I didn't say anything about the other men. But, still, that's true."

"_You_ convinced her."

"Yeah, but no one else. All the other women hated me because of my beliefs and only Tayan gave me a chance. She told me today that she understood I behave the way I do because I don't believe in men being one hundred percent surperior. She now believes the same way and that's why she wants to be the healer. So she will not always be forced into sumitting to men." Sam sat up and leaned into Daniel. He put his arms around her tightly.

"I always think about how Earth is getting along without us," said Sam suddenly. She felt Daniel tense slightly, but continued anyway. "Especially Dad and Mark. I just made up with both of them and suddenly I vanish. I wonder how Dad reacted, and especially Mark. He can't know what happened to me, just that I'm...gone. And Dad-- After Mom died, he became distant for a while. After a couple years, I gave up and estranged myself. Mark was already hateful of Dad and me for defending him, so he was already gone."

"I'm sure they're okay Sam," murmured Daniel.

"But by now they have to think I'm dead. General Hammond can't keep two people kidnapped by a Goa'uld System Lord listed as MIA. Everone probably thinks we're dead by now."

"We don't have to worry Sam. As much as I hate to say it, this planet is our home now. What happens on Earth doesn't concern us, especially since we have no way of even finding out what's going on," Daniel said regretfully. "Besides, if we were still on Earth, we wouldn't be joined."

"And we would have gone on thinking the other never cared for us the same way." Her stomach protested loudly and Daniel chuckled.

"Let's go get some fresh meat," he said.

----------------------------------------------

Two days later was Tayan's promotion for healer. Hardly any men attended but that only seemed to make the girl happier. Sam was there to congratulate her friend.

"Thanks!" said Tayan, hugging Sam. "I shall not have to live as opressed as before. I have you and Dahnyel to thank for that. You showed me that it is possible to not be in men's control."

"You're welcome," gasped Sam. Who knew the girl could grip that tight!

Tayan released her and looked at her appreciatively. Sam rubbed her arms. "Tonight, I invite you and Dahnyel to dine in celebration in my hut," said Tayan.

"I'll tell Daniel," replied Sam. "Hopefully you can cook a lot better than me."

Tayan laughed softly. "I shall see this evening.

Sam went in search of Daniel while Tayan spoke with some of her other friends. Sam spotted her esposo standing in the back, looking bored and uneasy but his expression brightened when Sam walked over.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey, Sam," he replied.

"Tayan wanted us to celebrate at her hut tonight."

"Sure. Oh! There's something I've been working on that you'll want to see," said Daniel excitedly. A little too eagerly, Sam thought, he led her away from the crowd of women and hurried home. Once in, he hurried to the dry cover, all the while saying, "I just finished it early this morning. Aha!" He pulled out what looked like a bunch of leaves all in a pile. "It's not much, but it's a first for Calax," he said, handing her the pile of leaves.

Upon closer inspection, Sam saw writing on the cover in English. On one side the leaves were bound, just like a book. Turning the first leaf, Sam saw that that was exactly what is was. Or at least it was a journal.

"It's everything that's happened to us since Camaxtli put us here," Daniel explained. "I have a couple others hidden in back. That one is the first year."

"But, we've only been here two years. You said there were a couple others."

"Sam..." said Daniel gently.

"Oh, right," said Sam in understanding. If anyone from Earth ever did find this planet, then these journals would be the only records they were ever there. If that was the case, Daniel would need a lot more than three.

"You can read them if you want," said Daniel.

"I'll be surprised if I remember how speak English again, let alone read it," Sam groaned in mock despair.

"Yeah right," retorted Daniel. "As if you'd ever forget something like English."

"It's easy for you to say, you're a linguist."

"Ah, but English was your first language. I remember Egyptian just fine."

"Huh?"

"Egyptian was my first language. I actually didn't learn English until I was about four."

"Oh geez!" laughed Sam. "While we're on this subject, I can't believe we haven't spoken English since we got here."

"That long, eh?"

"Not that I can recall. I don't want to start though, I reminds me too much of ho--Earth."

"You're as good as Jack at spoiling a good mood," commented Daniel, though not unkindly.

"Do you think he's okay?" asked Sam.

"It's Jack. Besides, he has Teal'c there for him."

"Yeah."

They were silent for a few minutes. Daniel broke the silence. "Come on, let's get ready to go to your friend's."

--------------------------------------------

Sam and Daniel didn't feel up to celebrating, but they kept a cheerful appearance for Tayan's sake. She sat, gabbing with all of her friends, oblivious to and sadness or discomfort Sam or Daniel might be feeling. They didn't mind too much; it kept attention away from them. Finally, Tayan broke away and pulled Sam aside.

"I know this isn't a good subject for tonight," Tayan began, "but I wanted to know if you wanted me to make sure you and Dahnyel were okay."

Understanding what Tayan meant, Sam shook her head. "I don't know if I could handle it if it were confirmed that we couldn't have children," Sam admitted. "I'd rather be oblivious."

Tayan nodded, sympathy shining in her eyes. "I wish you luck. May Chiconahui bless you."

"Thanks." Sam smiled. "And thanks for offering to make sure we were okay. But I'm not sure Daniel would want to know for sure or not either."

Tayan nodded again.

-----------------------------------------------

That night, after Sam and Daniel were in bed, Sam brought the subject. "I was talking to Tayan again earlier about how I'm not pregnant yet."

Daniel chuckled humorlessly. "You sure like to bring up sore subjects," he commented dryly.

"She offered to make sure we were 'okay'."

"Did you accept it?"

"No. I told her that I'd rather be oblivious to the fact than have it confirmed at that you'd probably agree."

"Sam?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks."

Sam roled onto her back, tears welling up in her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to have a child and it was looking like she couldn't.

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**You'll see why I ended it on that note in a couple of chapters. If you like Terry and Sue, the next chapter is going to be exteremely sad, so beware. Kind of like this chapter, it is going to have to be in the story because it'll be important in a couple of later chapters.**

**R&R**


	8. Omega

_'No. No, no, no,'_ thought Sue. She refused to believe what Doctor Fraiser was telling them. Janet said that Terry had a lethal dose of radiation and was going to die. But she couldn't; Terry was invincible, a rock, this couldn't be happening to her.

She walked over to Terry's bed. Her friend was looking very pale and Sue was sure her skin would feel clammy if she had been allowed to feel it.

Terry looked up. "Hey. Looks like I got outta this one. I won't have to worry about gettin' anymore crap from the others here."

"Don't talk like that," Sue said sharply. She swallowed. "Um, wha-what happened, Ter?"

"Uh, well. Um, that Jonas Quinn guy showed me that experiment with the naquadria after you guys left to get a tour of the city. We were watching from the observation room...

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jonas led Terry into the observation room. Looking out the window, they saw Tomas and the other scientists experimenting below. "So what is it again?" she asked, making sure she understood the schematics and plan correctly.

"Well, we discovered the element, naquadria, and found out it had explosive properties. Below, Tomas is experimenting with the nuclear qualities," replied Jonas.

"Exactly how what nuclear qualities and how much naquadria does it have?" asked Terry, getting a sudden feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach.

He started rattling off the answers but Terry interrupted him as soon as he began naming the properties. "Who came up with _that_," she demanded. "A bunch of toddlers? Do you realize how dangerous that is?"

"Captain Roland, I can safely assure you that we are taking every precaution possible in the event something goes wrong, " Jonas protested.

"Then you are a bunch of idiots," retorted Terry. "There is absolutely _no_ way that that mineral with those nuclear alloys are safe on those levels. If your calculations and my calculations are anything to go by, then the explosion caused by your experiment with blow this entire country to hell before you even get the chance to use it against your neighbors!"

Suddenly, some cries from the room below halted their conversation. Radiation was seeping into the room as a result of the experiment going too right. Everyone in the room had collapsed.

"Dammit! I told you!" shouted Terry angrily. The naquadria bomb now had no one to stop it from going off. The only thing to do would be to disconnect it at the heart and it was obvious that unless Terry herself did something, it would explode, and even if it didn't destroy this country, the radiation surely would along with this country's neighbors. Terry did the only thing she could think of.

Pulling out her hand gun, she shot the thick glass. Jonas ducked down all the while shouting at her. She didn't understand what he was saying; all she knew was that millions of people would die if she didn't stop the bomb. She backed up until she bumped the wall and took a running leap through the window. The glass shattered as all of her weight hit it. She landed on the floor stunned only momentarily. Standing up and looking around, she located the bomb. It was highly radio active, not surprising, considering it was poor judgement one the part of the Einstein who came up with the equations for it. There was no time for her to safely find anything to disconnect it with, so Terry pulled her sleeve forward to pull it apart. It was hard to do with one hand so she had to use the other uncovered hand to lift it as well.

When it was finally disconnected, Terry looked around exhausted. The adrenaline was gone, leaving the pain from the scratches to take its place. She saw Jonas looking around the room in horror, his gaze finally landing on her.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"...and then Jonas had someone go get you guys and we came back here," finished Terry.

"You make that part sound simpler than it was," commented Sue. "You know, the Kelowans are saying that you sabotaged their experiment and that--that if you live, you will go back to face charges."

"Oh," said Terry.

Sue was flaberghasted. 'Oh,' was all Terry was going to say. Terry never said just oh, unless she was stumped. Which she couldn't be--could she? Maybe she was just tired, or something. Her anchor in the base's pool of anger was letting her float away. Sue felt like her world was going downhill. She was going to be all alone now. No one to stand by her and face the rest of the base with her. She hoped the rest of the base was happy that Terry was going to die; she really did. At least something good would come out of this for someone.

"Sue," said Janet from behind her.

Sue walked over to her. "What?" she asked weakly.

"If you don't get some rest on your own accord, I'm going to have to order you to," Janet said quietly.

"Then I'll have to disobey," replied Sue. Her voice began cracking. "I'm not leaving her. She was with me through the hardest part of my time here and I'm going to be there for her now." She stared Janet in the eye.

"She has hours left, not seconds," argued Janet.

"You don't know that!" Sue's voice rose an octave. "I am _not_ leaving her." She closed her eyes tightly as her throat constricted and tears slid down her cheeks.

"Sue, remember what I said about stress when Orlin--"

"Yeah, I did try to relax and it still didn't help. I will not leave, even if it means I have to stand here and argue with you the whole time."

"Don't do this to yourself," said Janet, changing tactics.

"I can't help it," retorted Sue. "I always do this to myself. I'm used to it by now."

"I could sedate you," Janet threatened.

"I don't care. I thought I already established the fact that _I will not leave." _Then Sue decided to change tactics too. "You know how our motto is to never leave a man behind? Well, that's what I feel like I'd be doing to Terry if I left." Sue was still teary and her voice was beginning to crack. "Please," she whispered.

"How about a compromise?" asked Janet, her resolve at its breaking point. "I'll bring something in for you to lie down on so that way if you get tired, you can sleep there." She began to walk away.

"Did Major Carter and Doctor Jackson do this all the time too?" asked Sue quietly.

Janet paused before walking out. "All the time. If one was sick, the other would be in here with two cups of coffee. The second cup was usually for the one who was out of it, unless the first cup was finished. And they would always argue with me about the fact that they were not leaving until they knew the other was okay." Janet smiled sadly. She turned away as her resolve finally broke. She went to her office long enough to pull herself together before finding SG-1's 'special' chair and hauling it to Terry's observation room. She was just outside the door when she heard someone talking from inside.

"...and who knows? I hear SG-1 has a great track record for dying and coming back to life. We'll just have to see if it holds true for you too. If it does, then..." It sounded like Sue. She had drifted off and someone, probably Terry was nowtalking. The poor woman's voice was so low and weak, that Janet could only hear a murmur. Then Sue gave a sad laugh. "Yeah, hopefully... Did you want him to?... Yeah, when Janet comes in I'll ask."

Janet paused for ten seconds before knocking on the door. She walked in, dragging the chair. Terry was lying on the bed looking extremely pale. Sue was standing by looking upset, concerned, and tired. When she noticed Janet, she huried over to help the doctor with the chair. "Thanks," panted Janet. "It's a lot heavier than it looks."

"Um, Janet?" Sue asked hesitantly.

"What?"

"Uh, Ter was, she wants to speak with Colonel O'Neill. I was wondering if you could ask him to come and see her," said Sue, looking at her pleadingly.

"Why don't you ask him?" Janet asked gently.

"He won't come if _I_ ask him. But I was thinking that if you asked, he'd be more likely to come."

Janet put her hand on Sue's shoulder. "You won't know unless you ask. And don't worry. I'll stay with Terry while you're gone. If something happens, I'll get you immediately."

Sue looked like she wanted to protest, but she just shook her head slightly and went out in search of Colonel O'Neill.

-----------------------------------------

It didn't take long to find him and Teal'c in Teal'c's VIP room. When she opened the door, both of them stared at her, waiting for her to explain her prescence.

"Uh, Colonel O'Neill," she began hesitantly. "Terry asked me to find you. She-she said she wanted to talk to you."

She had to keep swallowing to prevent herself from breaking down. O'Neill exchanged a glance with Teal'c before getting up and following Sue to Terry's observation room.

"Do you know what she wanted to talk about?" he asked gently.

Sue shook her head, forcing herself not to show how upset she really was. "No, sir," she managed to croak out.

He nodded and entered the room. This was his worst nightmare. He had tried so hard not to get close to the captains, but going out on mission after mission caused you to form a bond, no matter how distant. He didn't want to get close to anyone else just in case they, like Carter and Daniel, had something happen to them.

Roland was lying on the bed, looking like she was about to die any second. Her skin was starting to bleed, like Janet had predicted. Her arms and legs were covered in bandages.

"Captain?" he asked, refusing to let his facade down.

"Colonel," she said weakly. "Sir, I-I wanted to apologize."

"For what?" he asked, genuinely puzzled.

"I-I didn't mean to replace Major Carter. I was j-just doing my job. I didn't mean to come in and take over. Ap-p-parently that's what I did, 'cause--" she broke off and began coughing. "Sorry, sir." she said, sounding weaker than before. "I guess I wanted to tell you to your face that I was sorry. I feel so bad that--" she coughed again.

"Save your strength Captain," Jack said. _'Crap. I had no clue that she felt this way.'_ "You didn't do anything. I should be the one to apologize. I gave you that opinion of yourself. God, I am horrible at this," he said.

"With all due respect, sir," she said with a weak, humorless laugh, "but why do you care? Why are you even bothering to defend yourself and the entire base. Sue and I both...we both know that everyone thinks we replaced Major Carter and Doctor Jackson, and I guess I j-just wanted someone besides Sue, Jan-Janet, and Teal'c to know that we-we never meant to just take over and fill in their places. I just want one person to know that we're sorry. I know I can rest in peace knowing for sure that at least one person forgave me for-for whatever sin I commited to gain their hatred."

"I care, Captain. I think that's what my problem was," said Jack said, but Roland didn't seem to be listening. She looked like she was asleep. _'Poor kid,'_ he thought, _'First she thinks everyone hates her, now she's gotten tired trying to explain something she was never even responsible for.'_ He went back and got Sue, who was waiting in the hall with her eyes tightly shut, tear stains on her face.

"Captain," he said softly. Sue jumped to attention, unshed tears in her eyes.

"Sir, I thought I should tell you that Jonas was waiting for you in the observation room," she said, her voice surprisingly steady.

"Thank you Captain. I have something important to ask you though. Why didn't you come and tell me or someone that you and Rol-Terry felt like everyone hates you?"

"Because aside from Teal'c, Janet, and Cassie, everyone does hate us," said Sue. "I-I'm just go-going to go see Terry now." Without waiting for his response, she dashed inside.

------------------------------------------

Terry didn't think she dozed off, but she must have because she went from lying in a bed and listening to Colonel O'Neill talking to standing in the gateroom.

"What the--?" she asked puzzled. The few bandages that Janet had just wrapped around her arms, chest, and legs were gone, she was standing in full uniform, and the place was completely deserted.

"Terry Roland," said a voice behind her. She turned to see a woman standing in front of the gate.

"Who are you?" Terry asked bluntly.

"It does not matter who I am so much as _where_ I am on the path of Enlightenment. The same is for you. You have demonstrated some of the qualities needed exceptionally well," the woman said.

_'Okay, new approach.'_ "Is there a name I can call you by?" asked Terry.

"I am known by many names, but you may call me Oma Desala if it brings you comfort." said the woman.

"How do I know that this isn't some creepy dream that I'm having as a result of radiation poisoning?"

"Knowledge comes with time. That, unfortunately, you do not have much of."

"Okay, what was that Path of Enlightenment you were talking about?" asked Terry.

"All answers will be found on the Path of Enlightenment, or else you have asked wrong question. But to answer yours, the path takes an eternity to complete. You must begin the first steps."

"Okay, how do I do that?"

"First, you must realize that this is not an escape from death only an alternative. Second, you have already completed the first step on your path," said Oma Desala.

"And that was?" Terry was beginning to sense there was an incomprehensibe amount of importance that she had yet to begin to even grasp the concept of.

"You released the foremost burdens on your mind."

"Oh. Can you explain the path to me?"

"It is something that you must experience. You must understand that this is not something that you should take lightly. When your time comes, you will not die, but become a form of pure energy."

"You're an Ancient," Terry realized with awe.

Oma Desala nodded.

"Hey, Terry. Uh, I can see that you're tired,so I won't say much, but uh." Terry turned to see Sue standing nearby, looking down. Her friend was trying desperately not to cry. "Jonas Quin came here from Kelowna. Colonel O'Neill went to the planet to see him a couple hours ago and Jonas...he-he's had a change of heart. He brought some naquadria back so we can use it to build defenses. Uh, he wants to apologize for lying and that it was because of your sacrifice that he--" Sue's voice broke completely and she began shaking with the effort of trying not to cry. Over the teariness in her voice, she managed to finish. "He said he would be considered a traitor to his country for doing the right thing, but he was so disgusted with his leaders and how-how gleeful they were to hear--" she broke off to regain some composure, "--that the weapon was so destructive and it hadn't even been fully activated. He wants to help us." She sat down on a chair that had just appeared behind her. "Oh, Ter," she sobbed. "I should have been the one to stay with Jonas so I would be the one lying on that bed, dying right now. I am so sorry."

"Would I-I be able to do more as an Ancient?" Terry asked, turning back to Oma.

Oma nodded.

Apparently Sue wasn't finished talking because she began again. "Gen-General Hammond also said that he was going to call the Tok'ra to see if one of then could come and possibly heal you. He's going to try and get Selmak, uh, Major Carter's father, to come. You shouldn't have to go though this Ter."

Terry turned back to Oma. "Can I think about this for a few minutes?" Oma nodded again in response.

The first thought that occured to Terry was that time was very different between where she was now and where her friends were because Colonel O'Neill had just been speaking with her what seemed like five minutes ago instead of like, three hours.

_'Oh boy,'_ she thought. This was going to be an...interesting decision.

------------------------------------------

Sue finally managed to regain her composure. The worst part was, she wasn't even sure if Terry was so far gone that she hadn't heard Sue. According to Janet, Terry only had a little bit of time left.

Finally the blessed klaxons went off, announcing the arrival of the Tok'ra. Five minutes later, Janet, General Hammond, Teal'c, Colonel O'Neill and a man Sue assumed was Selmak/Jacob Carter entered the room.

"How is she?" asked General Hammond.

Sue shook her head, no longer afraid to be seen by her teammates crying. "She-I was talking to her but I'm not sure if she even heard me."

"Let me see if I can heal her," said Selmak. Sue jumped at the Tok'ra's voice but stood up to give him room. He held the healing device over Terry but nothing happened. "The damage is extensive. If I manage to heal her," Selmak said, "then she will not be the same. She will be crippled for the rest of her life."

"Do it," ordered Hammond.

Time seemed to stand still for Sue as Selmak stood over Terry. Suddenly, she was standing in the gateroom next to...Terry?

"W-what's going on? Who's that?" she asked, just noticing Oma Desala.

"That's not important," said Terry. "Look, you have to tell Selmak to stop."

"No," said Sue, shaking her head furiously.

"Sue, Oma, here has given me another chance. I can ascend like Orlin did, that way I can do a hell of a lot more than if I was crippled," said Terry. "This is something I have to do."

Without warning, Oma began glowing and went into the gate, becoming the horizon. "Please Sue," Terry begged.

Sue closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face. Finally, slowly, she nodded.

She was back in the observation room. "Stop," she whispered. No one seemed to hear her so she repeated herself a little more loudly, "Stop."

Everyone looked at her. "Are you sure?" asked Hammond.

The tears were still on Sue's face. "Yeah. It's what she wants." No one questioned her and Selmak stopped.

Suddenly, Terry's moniters flatlined. Janet made a motion as if to help but stopped herself and turned away. Terry's body did the same glowy thing that Orlin's did and she rose to the ceiling, and paused.

Back in the gateroom, Terry closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Thanks," she said.

"I would say, 'No problem,' but that's not true," laughed Sue humorlessly. "Uh, where _are_ you going?"

Terry, who had already begun to walk the ramp, turned and looked at Sue steadily. "You know, I'm not really sure. But wherever it is, it'll be better." She gave Sue her famous Terry smile and walked though the gate.

In the observation room, Sue fell to her knees silently sobbing as Terry floated out of the room.

----------------------------------------

A few days later, Sue was sitting on Terry's bed trying to remember why she had let Terry go. Nothing came to mind.

"Hey, uh, Captain Kelly?" asked Jonas from the door. It took him a moment to register the woman's appearance. She was becoming thin, almost to the point of gaunt. Jonas figured that she hadn't eaten a meal since Terry died. Humans could only live about a week without food, couldn't they? She must not have gotten much sleep either because her eyes were shadowed and swollen from crying. He was surprised that she had hardly left the room (if at all) and that Doctor Fraiser hadn't forced her to leave or eat.

She looked up and shrugged.

"I came because I wanted to apologize."

"For what?" she croaked.

"I feel as if it were my fault you lost your friend. I should have been the one to act and save _my_ people, but I didn't. I just didn't. I'm so sorry. You probably hate me for killing your best friend, but that's okay, I deserve that."

Sue shook her head. "I don't hate you. Come here. This is something I want you to hear." Jonas walked over and sat on her bed. "Not quite three years ago, the team I belong to lost two of its members; two of the most important people on this entire base. General Hammond had me and Terry come and be the new teammates. Everyone hated us because we replaced to greatly loved and respected people. I could never hate you, Jonas, because I know first hand what it's like to feel guilty over something that wasn't really your fault in the long run and be treated horribly because you're being blamed for it. Terry, she-she told me that this is what she wanted. She could do more as an ascended being than she could if she were here and crippled. I honestly believe she was right."

"I'll do what I can to make up for my mistake. Call it what you want, but I feel I have to do this in honor of Captain Roland if nothing else."

"I for one, won't mind," said Sue.

-----------------------------------------------

"Dammit Teal'c!" said Jack angrily. "This is exactly why I tried to distance myself from those two. They still managed to make me feel horrible."

"It was Captain Roland's choice in the end," Teal'c pointed out. "It is Captain Kelly that I am worried about. She has not eaten or slept since the death of her friend."

"I know Teal'c," said Jack. He hadn't felt this guilty since Carter and Daniel. "Whether I like it or not, I'm worried about her, too."

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**So how did I do? This is the chapter I really want the comments on, cause I was curious to see if people thought I did a good job with the angst part. Don't think I have an obsession with this episode or anything (one of my other stories' first chapter is based after this episode of Stargate) but this chapter had to happen for reasons you will see later. Next chapter shouldn't be as sad.**


	9. Alpha

**This chapter takes place around 'Sights Unseen'.**

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Sam was stretched out on the couch. Daniel was away at a village council meeting again. He had been reluctant to leave because he was afraid Sam had an off world version of the flu. Sam hadn't told him what she thought the real reason was.

Lately, she had been extremely tired and nauseated. Most importantly, she was now two months late. All signs pointed to her finally being pregnant. She hadn't told Daniel yet because she didn't want to get his hopes up if she really was just sick. At the moment, she was working up the energy to go and see Tayan to tell her the good news.

She didn't need to. There was a knock on the door and Tayan walked in. Her eyes widened in concern upon seeing Sam on the couch. "Are you alright, Samantha?" she asked, hurrying over to Sam's side.

Sam sat up. "I was just working the energy to go and see you. I have good news. I think I'm pr-with child."

Tayan grinned. "I told you all you had to do was pray to Chiconahui and she would bless you with a child. Have you told Dahnyel yet?"

Sam shook her head. "I wasn't sure. Daniel just thought I had something we call the flu and he didn't want to leave for the three days the council meetings take."

"He will be home by midday, will he not?" asked Tayan. Sam nodded. "Tell him when he arrives."

"I intended to, but--"

"He will be thrilled. This is something you both have wanted," argued Tayan. "Come." Tayan helped Sam up and they both went outside. "Wait for him and--"

"Wait for who?" _'Speak of the devil.'_

"You," answered Sam, turning to see her husband.

"Oh." His brow furrowed in confusion. "Why?"

Sam looked at Tayan, who nodded. "I have something to tell--" but she was interrupted by a wild shouting from one of the younger men.

"Kaluck has caught intruders!" he cried. "Four of them! Clad in strange clothes. They are defenseless, come and see!" It was one of the tactics of the villages. Taunt and jeer those that have beencaptured so that they know the village has no love for them and will do anything to make them miserable. Any kindness shown will be punished.

Curiously, the three of them walked toward the center of the village where the prisoners were. When they finally got a view, Sam and Daniel had to prevent themselves from rushing over, for the four intruders were SG-1.

-------------------------------

"The planet appears to be quite safe. The atmosphere is almost identical to Earth's and can full support human life, so we may find signs of civilization within the first day," said Sue. "The area surrounding the gate seemes to be like what one would expect to find in or near an rainforest, though not so...wet."

"Anything else we should know before you go?" asked Hammond.

"No, sir. That's all we really need to know," she replied.

"Alright. Be in the embarkation room in forty-five minutes," Hammond ordered.

SG-1 arrived in the gateroom just as forty-five minutes ended. The gate began to whir to life as Harriman announced the chevrons locking into place.

"Chevron seven locked," he finally announced and the wormhole shot out and stablized.

"Good luck SG-1," said Hammond from the control room.

Colonel O'Neill gave a mini salute and SG-1 walked through the horizon, materializing seconds later. O'Neill looked around. "Which way?" he asked Sue.

"Um, I'd guess to the left of the gate," she replied.

He nodded. "Alright. Teal'c take pont, I'll watch your six."

They hadn't gone twenty yards when Teal'c stopped, his hand raised in a fist. Suddenly, about a doen natives jumped out from behind random things they had found in the forest and surrounded the team. One of them said, "Drop your weapons. Translate my words if necessary. Any resistance will be met with death."

Sue noticed he was speaking a Goa'uld/Spanish dialect depite his fair appearance. "Sir," she said, "he said to drop our weapons or he'd kill us,"

O'Neill grumbled something angrily but complied. Teal'c Jonas, and Sue followed suit. The man motioned for them to follow him.

Two miles and a half and hour later, a small village came into view. "Go and tell the villagers that we have captured four intruders," he ordered one of the younger people of the group. He nodded and raced off.

As they approached the village, a crowd had begun to gather, threatening or jeering the four teammates. The man had them roughly thrown into one of the huts and locked it from the outside. "We will constantly be keeping you under guard," the man warned. "Do not even consider escape."

_Great,'_ thought Sue, _'just great.'_

_----------------------------------------_

Sam and Daniel watched helplessly as their former were led away and locked in one of the huts reserved for such incidences. Already though, a plan began forming in Sam's mind that would both free their teammates and get them back home to Earth.

"Come on," she whispered to Daniel, pulling him away. Tayan wordlessly followed. Once out of earshot of the crowd and Sam stopped. Motioning Tayan to come closer, she asked, "Do you trust me?"

Confused, Tayan said, "Yes, of course I do. Why?"

"We know those poeple. Thy're our people," replied Sam. "I'm asking you if you trust me because I need you to trust them."

Understanding flashed through Tayan's eyes, "And you want me to help you free them."

Sam nodded. "I have a plan, but it's risky. Kaluck would suspect us if they were to disappear, so we;d have to return home with them."

"I have one condition," said Tayan. "I will only help you if you promise to let me go to your homeland with you."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Daniel. "No one has asked me what I thought about all of this."

"Daniel, we've done riskier things. Besides, you haven't heard my plan yet," Sam pointed out.

"Sam, I'm with you no matter what, it's just that I haven't been asked my opinion yet."

"Okay, what do you think?" asked Sam.

"We free the team and go back to Earth," said Daniel.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Okay, here's what I had in mind..."

---------------------------------------------

Later that night, Tayan, Sam, and Daniel approached the hut that contained SG-1. There were two guards standing on each side of the door. As the three-some came forward, both guards moved to completely stand in front of it.

"Halt," one of them commanded.

"I am a Healer. I request to be let in to make sure the prisoners do not carry any ailments that might harm our people," said Tayan.

The guard stood there, angrily grinding his teeth. "Why are they here?" he asked smugly, motioning to Sam and Daniel.

"They were the only people I could find willing to help me," Tayan replied smoothly.

Finding nothing else to really harrass her about, the guard reluctantly let them in. Sam was first to enter. Not even two steps in and she was caught and restrained; it was Teal'c judging by the constricting grip. Despite that, it took all of Sam's will power not to yelp in surprise. Judging by other movements, she could tell that Tayan and Daniel were restrained similarly.

"Teal'c," she half croaked, half whispered.

"How do you know my name?" he growled.

"It's me," she stuttered. "Sam." It felt odd to be speaking English again.

She felt his grip instantly relax. "Major Carter?"

"Carter?" Jack's voice. "How? Where's Daniel?"

"Here Jack," moaned Daniel. "You elbowed me rather hard in the nose."

"What?!" hissed another voice, female. "You're telling me that right here in front of me right now are the two people--"

"Not now Kelly," warned Jack.

"Look," whispered Sam. "We have a plan to help you escape."

"Wait one second," said Jack. There were a couple muffled protests from Daniel and the sound of someone shuffling nearer. "That's better," said Jack, sounding a lot closer. He found her arm and gripped it tightly as if to confirm her being real. "Anyway, who's your friend?"

"Huh? Oh, Tayan," answered Sam. "Anyway, I figured that if Tayan called the guards in for assistance, they couldn't say no or give her a hard time so they'd have to come it."

"Carter," growled Jack.

"I'm getting there, sir," said Sam impatiently. "When they come in, preferably Teal'c and someone else are going to knock them unconcious. Then we're going to try and sneak out and head to the gate."

"That simple?" Jack asked sarcastically.

"Pretty much, sir," Sam replied. "Is everyone ready?"

"Hold on," said Jack. He let go of her arm and she heard him shuffling over to the door. She assumed Teal'c was at the door already. She found Tayan's arm and tapped it. "Now," she whispered.

"Guard," Tayan caleed, "we need a little bit of help. Can you and your friend come and help us?"

They heard an angry grumbling outside and the two guards entered. Jack and Teal'c took them out quickly and quietly.

"Sir, you're going to have to take us to the gate," Sam said.

"Right," replied Jack. "T, remember how to get there?"

"Indeed."

It wasn't hard to sneak out of the camp because all of the people were alseep thinking the guards were guarding the prisoners. Only Sam, Daniel, and Tayan were constantly on the alert as they raced through the forest; they knew things were in the forest that would gladly devour a person or two. Luckily, they made it to the gate without a problem, except that it took a lot longer because of the dark. Sue dialed the gate. while the man, Jonas Quinn stood by, ready to enter the IDC.

Sam swore. "We were so close. So close and we just gave up."

"Yeah, uh, Sam?" asked Daniel. "What did you want to tell me earlier?"

"Nothing," replied Sam. " Right now, getting home is more important." The gate activated and the wormhole stablized. Tayan stared at it in awe.

"What about her?" Jack asked, motioning to Tayan.

"If she stayed here, she'd be shamed and possibly killed for treason against her people," said Sam. "I thought she could come with us and be offered asylum. Besides, she hates life here. These people can be worse than the Shavadi."

"Ah. Say no more," said Jack. "Let's go."

The seven of them, Sam leading a fightened Tayan, walked through the gate and rematerialized seconds later on the other side.

"Colonel O'Neill, what is going on?" demanded Hammond, walking into the embarkation room. "You are twelve hours late."

"That's because the people there took them prisoner," explained Sam, stepping out from behind Teal'c. Daniel and Tayan followed, Tayan gripping Sam's shoulders.

"Major Carter? Doctor Jackson? How--Who's your friend?" Hammond stuttered.

"Yes, sir, it's us, and this is Tayan," replied Sam. Switching to Spanish, Sam told Tayan who everybody was. Tayan released her deathgrip and smiled shyly. Back in English, Sam explained, "Tayan was the only woman besides me who hated the fact that men were completely dominant. And especially now, when she'd be considered a traitor, I thought we could repay her by offering her asylum."

"I'll think about it," replied Hammond. "Go on to the infirmary."

"We're going to see the Healer here," Sam explained to Tayan, who perked up slightly.

Janet had to do a double-take when the seven people entered the infirmary. She walked over, as if in a daze, and pulled Sam and Daniel into a tight hug. "How?" was all she could ask.

-------------------------------------

An hour later, everyone except Sue and Jonas was trying to get Sam and Daniel to tell them what had happened. Sam and Daniel kept refusing because it was a very long story and they only wanted to tell it once. It also didn't help that Sam was unusually irriated and fairly tired. Finally, a nurse called Janet to her office to look at the results.

"So, how were they worse than the Shavadi?" asked Jack.

Daniel answered, "Because the Shavadi at least listened to reason. The more Sam refused to be submissive, the angrier they got. Most of their laws conflicted anyway. One of my favorites was that it was okay for a man to rape a woman, but the woman would be beaten, either for betraying her husband or not being married to the man."

"Fun," Jack commented.

Daniel noticed the odd expressions Sue and Jonas were giving Jack. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing," said Sue. "It's just that...everything is different now that you're back. Everyone is less tense and angry. No one's glaring at me anymore either," she commented dryly.

"Why would people be glaring at you?" asked Daniel. "You seem nice enough."

"Because when you disappeared, me and a friend became the new members of SG-1. No one would talk to us. They always gave us the cold shoulder, but still expected us to try and talk with them. And, with all due respect, sir, but even you did the same thing," Sue replied, looking pointedly at the colonel.

"Yeah, I realied that too late for your friend," Jack admitted quietly.

"Why?" asked Sam. She had a reassuring arm around Tayan's shoulders. Earlier, just before they had walked in to the infirmary, Sam had told Tayan that if Janet wanted to talk to Sam about the baby, then Tayan would tell Daniel. That was preferable because Sam wanted Daniel to be told, just not by Janet. It wasn't that Sam was angry or anything at Janet, but since Janet was more than likely to pull Sam away to talk about the baby, Sam thought it just be better that someone tell him if she didn't have enough time to before she and Janet had "the talk." Luckily, Tayan happily agreed.

"I was an ass," said Jack bluntly.

Sam glared at him and turned to Sue. "Ter, died," Sue said. "Ascended actually," she added as an after thought.

Daniel was about to ask whether or not "ascended" had anything to do with the Ancients, but Jonas interrupted. "It was my fault. Captain Roland saved my planet from being completely destroyed by a bomb made of naquadria."

"Naquadah?" interjected Sam.

"No, the word 'naquadah' already in it was there, too. It is definitely 'naquadria,'" said Jonas.

Any more conversation was cut off as Janet walked over, looking at the results in concern. "Well, you are in fact Samantha Carter and Daniel Jackson. There's just one thing. Could I speak with Sam in my office?" she asked, glancing up.

Sam nodded and stood up, exchanging a silent message with Tayan before following Janet.

Janet closed her office door and sat down behind her desk, motioning that Sam take a seat as well.

"Sam," Janet began, almost uneasily, "while on the planet, were you sexually active with any of the natives? I can understand how you might have, considering it probably looked like you wouldn't be coming back here."

"Janet, I already know I'm pregnant," said Sam irritably.

"You still didn't answer my question," retorted Janet.

"No. The father is Daniel," Sam said.

"Daniel?" asked Janet in shock.

"Yes, but please don't...Tayan's going to tell him--"

"Daniel?"

"Yes, Janet," said Sam impatiently. "We--"

"Daniel." Janet still had to get her mind around the fact that Sam and Daniel--

"Yes. We alreadly established the fact that Daniel is the father," said Sam, fighting the urge to slap Janet out of it.

"Yeah, but--"

"I swear, Janet. If you say 'Daniel' one more time..." threatened Sam.

"Was it forced?" asked Janet weakly.

"No. We've been married--I guess you could call it--for over a year. We've been trying but I never got pregnant, so we thought that one of us might be sterile. I think that Daniel has almost given up on being a father," said Sam.

"This is the last thing I expected," said Janet.

"You knew I liked him," Sam pointed out. Then something occured to her. "Have you saved Sha're yet?"

Janet hardly heard the question. "She-she's saved. She tried to kill Jack so Teal'c shot her."

"Oh no," gasped Sam. "Poor Daniel."

"I'm just surprised that he...remarried, even though he thought Sha're was still alive," said Janet.

Sam shook her head. "He told me that he still cared for her but she wasn't me."

Janet smiled. "That''s pretty Daniel-like."

They began discussing how they could tell Daniel about Sha're, if he hadn't asked anyone else yet.

-----------------------------------

Tayan waited a few minutes after Sam left to tell Daniel. She was feeling very uncomfortable at the moment because she couldn't understand a word anyone was saying, Well, not true, she had picked a few words up from having things translated by Sam.

Finally, she tapped Daniel's arm to get his attention.

"What?" he asked gently. Tayan never wanted to talk to him unless it was important, so he figured this time was no different and he might want to listen.

"Samantha wished me to tell you what 'nothing' means," she whispered.

Daniel was intent now. "What does it mean?" he asked, though not as quietly.

Tayan glanced at the others nervously before replying. "She wanted you to know that she is with child."

"W-what?" he stuttered, unintentionally switching to English. Everyone was looking at him curiously. "Sh-sh-what?" he said again weakly.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked in concern.

"Not nothing," replied Daniel.

"Huh?"

Daniel shook his head. "Depends on Sam."

"Oookay," said Jack, stretching the word. Daniel was making no sense. Maybe he'd talk comprehensibly about a different subject. "So...did you live up to 'Spacemonkey' on your little trip to the planet after our friend, Camel, sent you off?"

It worked. "Ja-ack," whined Daniel. "That was supposed to be just for after we blew up Apophis's ship."

"Well, you're not talking nonsense anymore," said Jack smugly.

"You'll be doing it too," Daniel warned.

"Right." Just then, Sam and Janet exited the office.

Daniel vaulted off of the bed, startling Tayan, who was sitting next to him, and raced over to Sam.

"Why didn't you say anything?" he demanded. "I take that back. How could you say it was 'nothing'?"

"B-because, getting saving the team and getting home was top priority at the time." said Sam.

Daniel pulled her into a tight hug. "Ugh, Daniel, I still need to breathe," she gasped.

"Sorry."

They walked back, everyone except Tayan looking at them in unconcealed curiousity.

"What was nothing? You two are almost acting like a married couple," Jack commented.

Janet made a coughing noise from her office door. Jack glared at her.

"You really want to know what 'nothing' is?" Sam asked in mock innocence.

"Yes!" replied Jack, throwing his hands up impatiently.

"I'm pregnant with Daniel's baby," said Sam.

"What?!" shouted Jack. "How...I mean I know _how_ but...Daniel?"

"I wouldn't start, sir," called Janet. "I almost got my head bitten off for doing it."

Jack moved his mouth wordlessly, looking like a fish.

No one spoke for a moment then: "Congratulations," rumbled Teal'c.

Sam instantly relaxed. "Thank you."

"Yeah, but now we've got to go and debrief and this'll have to be mentioned," Jack pointed out, regaining his power of speech.

"I know," said Sam. They were going to have a _very_ long debriefing.

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**I ended it at this particular spot for two reason: 1) It was getting a wee bit long for one of the chapters of this story and 2) it adds another chapter for me to write.**

**Please R&R.**


	10. Home Sweet Home

**Sorry, this one is shorter than pretty much all the others. I tried to explain why at the very end.**

**­**

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They left the infirmary a short while later. Tayan stayed in the infirmary to observe Janet at work with her medical tools. Janet had also offered to teach the young woman about medicines if she was serious about medical work. Tayan stubbornly said she was serious. Jack had made the comment that the two would make a force to be reckoned with in the infirmary since they were both as stubborn as hell.

On the way to the briefing, Jack tried to answer the endless flow of questions about all that had happened while his two teammates were away. So far it only made them ask more. Sue and Jonas just tried to stay back while the team reunited. It was kind of awkward because they were with three strangers: Doctor Jackson, Major Carter, and Colonel O'Neill. He was exactly how others said, if not more cynical and...cheerful, for lack of a more decent word. They exchanged a glance and shook their heads at how he had changed so quickly.

Jack breathed a sigh of relief when they finally entered the briefing room and General Hammond was waiting. The old SG-1 took their traditional seats (Sue and Jonas sat toward the end).

"Welcome back, Sam and Daniel," Hammond greeted. "I must admit, I'm extremely curious as to what you've been doing for the past three years."

Sam cut to the chase and began explaining everything that had happened, starting with when Camaxtli had them brought to see him. The others interrupted occationally to ask a question if they didn't understand something. Everyone, even Colonel O'Neill listened intently, and finally quieted to let Sam and Daniel finish.

"...and one of the village 'men' ran through the village shouting at everyone that Kaluck had caught four intruders," Sam finished. "You know what happened next. And before anyone says anything, I wanted to put in that I think Camaxtli sent me and Daniel was because he need more people. I mean, there weren't many people in the villages and Daniel and I look most like the inhabitants. It would make sense if he 'added' us to help with the population and help prevent some inbreeding."

"True. But what I don't get was all the taunting when we were brought in," said Jack. The others looked at him. "What? Just because I can't understand 'em doesn't mean I can't tell when a bunch of Neanderthals are throwin' a crapload of taunts at me."

Sam smiled in amusement and Daniel muttered, "Ri-ight. It's a form of intimidating the enemy, Jack."

"So, you are telling me that both of you were married?" said Hammond, interrupting any argument that might develop.

"_Are_, sir," corrected Sam quietly, glancing down at the table.

Hammond was silent for a moment. "Does this mean that you really are and still wish to be?"

Sam and Daniel echanged a glance, then looked back at Hammond, nodding in unison. "Yes, sir," said Sam.

Hammond nodded. "Alright. I'll dismiss you for now. I'm sure you're all hungry after having been in here for--" he glanced at his watch "--five hours. Come back in here in another two, at 1600 hours."

Everyone stood up. Quietly, they all headed to the commissary.

As Sam and Daniel entered, nobody noticed them at first. Then, as they walked into line, the volume of conversation in the room slowly decresendoed. Sam and Daniel were careful to ignore them because they weren't sure how everyone would react to their sudden reappearance.

The commissary erupted in cheers. Sam caught sight of Sue looking both upset and angry. People were decent enought to wait until after the scientists sat down before coming over and interrupting their first commissary meal in three years.

"Still tastes as bad as ever," Daniel commented dryly, spooning some peas that slopped back into the dish when he turned the spoon to let them fall. Instead of eating though, he picked up his cup of coffee and savored it. Sam had already picked hers up and was sipping it slowly.

"You two are gone for what? Three years, and the first thing you pick up is coffee," Jack said in exasperation.

Sam put her cup down and began eating her blue jell-o. "Of course, sir," she said lightly. "It's the thing we missed most here on Earth." She glanced up at Jack to see if he caught exactly what she said.

"Funny," he said.

She grinned and scooped some jell-o. She heard someone cough irritably. Looking up, she saw Sue glaring fiercely at an approaching SG team.

"Welcome back!" said the leader. "We all thought you were dead. I guess your team does have an excellent track record for coming back from the grave."

"So that's why Terry's dead and you have offered nothing in consolation for her death?" Sue spat. "We were never _really_ part of SG-1. We just replaced two of the members, so we're unworthy of even being here let alone on the top team."

"We never said--" said one of the other members.

"Never said what?" Sue demanded. "Never said 'Wecome to the base. Glad to have you with us'. You're right. You never said. Do you realize Terry died thinking the entire base hated our guts, which I'm not saying is _wrong._ That little locker incident proved that much. Even Doctor Jackson and Major Carter don't hate us for 'replacing' them. Why did--why _do_ you?" Her voice had been getting progressively louder. "Am I now 'worthy' of your grace since Sam and Daniel are back?" Not waiting for any answer to any of her questions, she stood up, gave the SG team a final glare, and set off to _her_ lab and then to wherever.

Sam and Daniel were watching in alarm, but most of the people in the room that were oblivious to the conversation were staring at the door she had just exited, stunned.

"Colonel," Sam asked, "did you have any idea that she felt this way?"

"I had some clue," Jack admitted. "Terry said something along those lines as she was dying. She tried to apologize to me for replacing you, Carter. I, personally, had a similar reation to yours. After you two 'died' I tried to keep them from getting too close. Didn't work, but ya can't blame an old suicidal guy for tryin'. I found Kelly in the hall about to burst into tears and she said that it was true and I was one of the people against her."

"Were you?" Daniel asked softly.

"No, not really. Like I said. I just tried not to get close to them. Didn't work," said Jack.

Sam stood up. "I'm going to go talk to her."

Daniel studied the stubborn expression on her face. She wanted to go alone and he respected that. He nooded. "Okay."

Jack began to stand up. "I'm coming too. I'm her CO and--"

"With all due respect, sir," said Sam, "I'm technically her CO too. I think I should be the one to talk to her. I can kind of sympathize with her."

Jack was about to protest, but Teal'c laid a firm hand on his shoulder. Jack closed his mouth and nodded.

Sam gave a small smile in return and walked out the door. Sue was the not so new archaeologist of the team, which probably meant she now had Daniel's lab. Sam figured that she would rather go to her lab first and possibly the gym second.

It took a few minutes to get to Daniel/ Sue's lab and to Sam's disappointment, Sue wasn't there. _'Okay, I'll try the gym,'_ Sam decided.

The gym was empty when she first glanced in from the door but further observation showed the young captain pounding a punching bag. "Hey," she said.

Sue barely glanced up. "Hi," she grunted. The bag protested as she threw a particularly violent punch.

"Every person on this base seriously hated you because they thought you and your friend replaced Daniel and me?" asked Sam. It appeared that Sue hadn't let these emotions out and severely needed to instead of going for a punching bag every time she got mad. "I understand if you won't want to talk, especially to me, but I'd like to be your friend if you'll let me."

Sue finally stopped concentrating on her victim. "Why?" she asked suspiciously.

This would be a little harder than Sam had originally thought. "Why not? You seem like a nice person. I'm willing to bet you came here expecting welcome and everyone here gave you a crapload of shit."

"Gee, what could have possibly given you that idea?" Sue asked sarcastically.

"Look, I'm just trying to be a friend. No offense, but it looks like you don't have many."

"I don't need anyone's pity, let alone yours," Sue snapped.

"I didn't say I pitied you. I just said I want to be your friend," Sam pointed out.

Sue obviously didn't have anything to say back so Sam waited for her to speak. She was being sincere. Sue did seem like a nice person and she did want to be her friend. "I just want to talk," Sam coaxed, gently. "Why do you say that everyone hates you?"

"It's the truth," Sue said quickly. "Oh, geez." She put her face in her hands. "I sound just like Terry."

"Is that a good thing or bad thing?" Sam asked.

"Both, I guess," admitted Sue. Sam didn't reply so she continued. "I was the quiet, nice one and Ter was the...basically the Colonel O'Neill of the team. That's one reason I think people seemed to hate her more. She was replacing two people instead of just one like me," she spat bitterly. "Ter and I had some occational arguments over the people but it wasn't until 'the lock-in' that I, I guess I became meaner, tougher, colder."

"What was 'the lock-in'?" Sam asked. "Besides that, Janet and Teal'c are nice to you and you didn't bite their heads off like you did the marines."

"I think it was the marines that initiated 'the lock-in.' Janet and Teal'c were our only friends here. 'The lock-in' was a little prank the marines pulled. They locked me in the showers while I was trying to cool down from an arguement with Ter. It's like I said to her know it's not that big of a deal, but it's the intent. I just snapped.After that, I decided that this means it's me against the base. I made Terry decide: she was either with me or the base; there is no neutral. Then Terry died and they were still being assholes to me." Sue slammed her fist into her hand. "If they hadn't behaved like...like assholes, I know I would have comforted them instead of treating them even worse! I don't what the hell they had up their asses, but it still pisses me off!"

"I'm sorry," said Sam. "I'll stand by you and try to help you. If they mess with you, they mess with me. I feel partly responsible for how they treated you and Captain Roland--"

"So you are just helping me out of pity," said Sue resignedly.

"No!" Sam said sharply. "I don't help fellow officers out of pity. If they're friends, I help them for that reason."

"And if they're not?"

"I tell them to get the hell away from me."

Sue smiled. "I accept. Friends?" She held her hand out.

"Friends." Sam grinned and shook Sue's hand. They were acting like two junior high girls for Pete's sake!

They left the gym and headed back to the commissary, talking like, well, two junior high girls. It reminded Sam a little bit of how she and Tayan sometimes behaved when Sam was still single.

SG-1 was still sitting at the table, so Sam and Sue walked over.

"Hey, Carter, Kelly," Jack greeted.

"Sir," Sam replied, taking her seat. She leaned back and sighed contently. For the first time in who knows how long, she had her friends back and a new family. She couldn't ask for much more. Except to see her dad and maybe Martouf again. But that was another bridge to come to later. She was home, and for now, that was all that mattered.

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**I know, I know, I know, horrible place to leave it off because of all the loose ends. I'm working on a short sequel that will hopefully tie them up (and if I don't tell me, 'cause there is a such thing as a trilogy (sigh)) My muse (and brain) are dead from working to get this done. That's another reason I'm doing a sequel: a nice little excuse to take a long break from this story and finish my LotR story, (mwahahaha)**


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